Trauma, loss, and healing
This IB English Individual Oral sample paper examines the theme of art, creativity, and imagination, focusing on the global issue: "How art allows individuals and communities to process trauma, loss, and healing." This relevant issue gives insight into the power of art as a tool for expression, which helps people confront emotional pain and create community while healing. The literary text that the IB essay writer has selected deals with trauma: an excerpt taken from Beloved, a novel written by Toni Morrison. Trauma in the excerpt chosen is demonstrated through the character of Sethe. On the other hand, in this IB IO example, the non-literary text chosen is Picasso's Guernica because of the way it powerfully expresses the effects of wartime trauma. Both works demonstrate how creative expression allows people and communities to work through deep-seated wounds, building resilience and connection with each other in the presence of suffering.
Octobre 27, 2024
* The sample essays are for browsing purposes only and are not to be submitted as original work to avoid issues with plagiarism.
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Student’s Name
Professor’s Name
Course
Date
Trauma, Loss, and Healing
Global Issue - How art allows individuals and communities to process trauma, loss, and healing
(Culture, identity and community)
Literary Text - Beloved by Tony Morrison (1985) pg. 95.
"Sethe had had twenty-eight days—the travel of one whole moon—of unslaved life. From the
pure clear stream of spit that the little girl dribbled into her face to her oily blood was
twenty-eight days. Days of healing, ease, and real-talk. Days of company: knowing the names of
forty, fifty other Negroes, their views, habits; where they had been and what done; of feeling
their fun and sorrow along with her own, which made it better. One taught her the alphabet;
another a stitch. All taught her how it felt to wake up at dawn and decide what to do with the day.
That's how she got through the waiting for Halle. Bit by bit, at 124 and in the Clearing, along
with the others, she had claimed herself. Freeing yourself was one thing; claiming ownership of
that freed self was another.
Now she sat on Baby Suggs' rock, Denver and Beloved watching her from the trees. There will
never be a day, she thought, when Halle will knock on the door. Not knowing it was hard;
knowing it was harder. Just the fingers, she thought. Just let me feel your fingers again on the
back of my neck and I will lay it all down, make a way out of this no way.
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Sethe bowed her head and sure enough—they were there. Lighter now, no more than the strokes
of bird feather, but unmistakably caressing fingers. She had to relax a bit to let them do their
work, so light was the touch, childlike almost, more finger kiss than kneading. Still she was
grateful for the effort; Baby Suggs' long distance love was equal to any skin-close love she had
known.
She knew Paul D was adding something to her life—something she wanted to count on but was
scared to. Now he had added more: new pictures and old memories that broke her heart. Into the
empty space of not knowing about Halle—a space sometimes colored with righteous resentment
at what could have been his cowardice, or stupidity or bad luck—that empty place of no definite
news was filled now with a brand-new sorrow and who could tell how many more on the way.
Years ago—when 124 was alive—she had women friends, men friends, Halle, Baby Suggs, and
suddenly she had new reasons to move: food for her children, food for herself, firewood,
company.”
Non-literary text - Guernica by Pablo Picasso (1937)
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Pointers
1. In Beloved, Morrison presents the necessity of community in overcoming
psychological traumas by framing Sethe's "twenty-eight days" of life outside slavery.
2. "The travel of one whole moon" metaphorically characterizes a transformation, a
cycle of movement through trauma into recovery.
3. Morrison reinforces a distinction between "freeing yourself" and "claiming ownership
of that freed self," demonstrating Sethe's failure to reconcile her pre- and post-slavery
identity.
4. The yearning to "just let me feel your fingers again" speaks to Sethe's yearning for
Halle but, on a deeper level, speaks to her need for connection and support in her
journey of healing.
5. Paul D. further complicates the richly nuanced process of healing for Sethe, bringing
new memories filled with both joy and unresolved grief.
6. Picasso depicted war-time confusion and destruction by using different stylistic
devices such as color that communicates turmoil in times of collective trauma.
7. Guernica depicts a painful vision of acts of violence afflicting innocent lives,
touching the chord of the shared human experience of suffering.
8. The image of a grieving mother with her dead child enhances the emotional depth of
this painting.
9. In both texts, there is a medium through which the use of art processes trauma and
allows individuals and communities to confront and articulate their suffering.
10. Through the use of trauma and healing, Beloved and Guernica demonstrate examples
of the human spirit and how transformation is possible through the work of artists.
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Rationale
This task will examine the themes of art, creativity, and imagination. More specifically, I
will examine the global issue: How art allows individuals and communities to process trauma,
loss, and healing. This is a very relevant global issue because art has become the most powerful
tool of expression for people to face and progress through their emotional pain. It creates a
feeling of community and shared experience, which is also very significant during the process of
healing. Therefore, this topic is multidimensional because it concerns psychological, cultural,
and social issues. The literary text is a scene selected from Beloved, a 1987 novel written by
Toni Morrison. A cornerstone of American literature, this novel confronts deep psychological
slavery through the experience of Sethe, a formerly enslaved woman. Here, Morrison evidences
how Sethe's interactions and memories serve as ways that she can conceptualize healing,
comprising community and shared experiences in the processing of her trauma. The selected
passage speaks of the journey of self-ownership and Sethe's relations with the people
surrounding her to become a complete embodiment of post-trauma healing and identity. The
non-literary piece is titled Guernica and was painted by Pablo Picasso in 1937. The powerful
painting depicts the destruction and horror associated with the bombing of a small Basque town
named Guernica during the Spanish Civil War. Guernica is a powerful statement against war,
depicting it in its most emotional and physical agonies, and, therefore, is an important work for
understanding collective trauma. Both these texts point to how creative expression offers access
to, and a way of processing, deep-seated emotional wounds that enable resilience and
connection.
Analysis
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In the extracted part from Beloved by Toni Morrison, she effectively captures in her thick
and enriching prose the complexities of trauma, healing, and the process of reclaiming identity.
The passage opens with Sethe reflecting on her "twenty-eight days" of unslaved life which was a
transformative period marked by communal relationships and self-discovery. The phrase "the
travel of one whole moon" not only draws out in relief the cyclical nature of healing but also
symbolizes a sort of wholeness that has so long been denied Sethe. In this respect, Morrison has
chosen her words deliberately to make it a very personal and yet collective experience: Sethe
plays with "forty, fifty other Negroes," sharing in their "fun and sorrow." This aspect of healing
is collective and draws on how the bonding in this short-lived respite from bondage contributes
toward the reclamation of identity by Sethe. Morrison elaborates on the theme of ownership
when she writes, "Freeing yourself was one thing; claiming ownership of that freed self was
another." This is a distinction indicating an interior struggle by persons trying to assert their
identity after some trauma. The use of the phrase "claiming ownership" here suggests that true
freedom really means physical liberty and psychical and emotional repossession.
Sethe wants to feel the touch of Halle on her body, now, as she sits on Baby Suggs' rock
thinking about her life. The line "Just let me feel your fingers again on the back of my neck" is a
clear impulse on her part, which indicates a yearning for intimacy in a moment of uncertainty.
Morrison employs images of touch to expose Sethe's desire for connection and comfort in shared
experiences. The passage also brings out how Paul D affects the life of Sethe by adding
complexity to her memories; happy moments mingle with sad ones, making her healing process
more complicated. Morrison poignantly shows the duality of healing in that Sethe's heart is
"broken" as she navigates "new pictures and old memories." The phrase "new reasons to move"
points out that within grief, there is an opportunity for purpose and motivation. In this context,
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art reveals itself as the medium through which individuals and communities can access and work
their way through trauma.
I turn now to the non-literary text, which is Guernica by Picasso. This painting highlights
the emotional destruction associated with war and violence. The grayscale color and chaotic
composition merge into a statement that conveys the torment and despair this community is
experiencing due to the conflict of the Spanish Civil War. Picasso uses distorted figures and
fragmented shapes representative of the confusion and disorientation of victims who had to
experience trauma. He tends to make an important pronouncement on war, tending to accentuate
the terrifying nature of such a situation. The agonized faces of the figures reflect a depth of loss
and helpless situations that a viewer can deeply interact with. Probably most striking is the
poignancy of the theme of loss in which war impinges upon family bonds, caught in the picture
of a sobbing mother holding her dead child. It is a poignant moment that surfaces as part of the
global issue in the way art provides the means for working through trauma and loss.
Moreover, the symbolism Picasso used-that of a light bulb as the oppressive gaze of war
and a horse to denote the suffering of people-adds all the more to the emotional impact of the
work. The chaotically scattered figures contrast with the solitary light bulb in the center, showing
how trauma overflows and obscures the possibility of clarity. This image of dislocation,
therefore, points to how war unravels lives and societies; it calls for healing from a community in
grief. Picasso's Guernica is, ultimately, a powerful political statement and an effective one,
underlining the role that art can play in working through trauma at a communal level. The
painting relates to the immediate horror of the bombing but continues to witness the larger
consequences of violence and the deeper scars that would be left by it. Picasso explores, through
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masterly use of form, color, and symbolism, a powerful reason why art should continue to
grapple with trauma.
Ultimately, Beloved and Guernica both bear witness to how art facilitates the working out
of trauma and loss, healing, and how individual experiences are intertwined with and composed
of the histories of their time. The works of Morrison and Picasso successfully show how anyone
could maneuver the labyrinth of the emotional highs and lows that make them resilient inside
and attached to themselves and all the communities they are part of through the creative process.
These works shed light on the profound capacity of art to reflect not only the depths of human
suffering but also the possibility to inspire healing and hope.
Octobre 27, 2024
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Academic level:
IB Student
Type of paper:
IB Individual oral
Discipline:
English
Citation:
MLA
Pages:
6 (1650 words)
* The sample essays are for browsing purposes only and are not to be submitted as original work to avoid issues with plagiarism.
