I often ask myself how can the memory of one individual who has experienced a certain event be so different from many other individuals who have experienced the same event?  To put that question into perspective for me, I read the article “The Role of Interpretive Communities in Remembering and Learning” written by Farhat Shahzad.  The main gist of the article was that all of which we remember and learn is influenced.  Some examples of those influences include teachers, family and friends.  Shahzad focuses specifically on The War on Terror, which was the time following the attacks of 9/11. Through asking different students to write about how they remember this particular event, Shahzad gives us a unique opportunity to gain perspective and insight into how the memory of this event differs from person to person.

I find it hard to gain insight on such an event such as the War on Terror because I myself have not experienced that kind of emotional trauma.  An interesting example as proved in the article, was the way that a white person remembers the War on Terror versus the way a muslim person remembers the War on Terror.  My point here being that the different cultures that these people are affiliated with and the values that come along with them, affect how they remember the War on Terror.  The way that a lot of people think of muslims now is quite different than before the attacks of 9/11, and in a lot of ways it can be argued that Western media has fabricated that “all muslims are bad.”  This kind of negative image put out by the media has the power to associate negative traits with being muslim.  It is very valuable to look at this particular issue from someone who has experienced it first hand.  I feel that I myself have pre-existing thoughts based on my particular values, and this definetely impacts the way that I choose to interpret certain things.  A more recent example of this is the current Syrian refugee crisis happening as I write this.  The way in which we are receiving this information is mostly from the media.  The way the media tells us what is happening, is definitely different than asking a Syrian refugee how they see it.

The idea of exploring memory through means of literature, I feel, is very valuable because your pre-existing thoughts are challenged.  When reading a memoir and having the author describe their experiences to you, you are interested to listen to what they have to say because it is told through a more personal perspective.  I have provided a link to an article below that depicts how one particular woman was wrongfully accused of having terrorist affiliations due to the fact of how people saw muslims after the events that unfolded on September 11,2001.

http://chicagomonitor.com/2013/04/not-all-muslims-are-terrorists/