It’s a relatively a simple concept, however, in my ASTU 100 class we have learned that memory can actually be a more complicated concept than previously thought. In a traditional perception, memory is a simple concept where by an individual records and stores auditory, visual details of events and situations. The details are used as a learning tool where they can be used in similar or different situations that have yet to come. However, this traditional way of thinking about memory, that most of the general public and I have, is being actively challenged by modern scholars. The theme of my ASTU 100 class is literature in memory- seeing how literature affects the memory of the individual and how individual memory is adopted and transformed into communal and national memory. From this extremely stark and watered down version of my course description, it can be easier to see how memory can be more complex than previously thought. Looking at a database graph, I saw that the beginning of the 21st century gave birth to an exponential increase in the amount of conversation regarding memory. In class we have been introduced to authors who have researched and studied the concept of memory in an effort to give new insight into the ever-changing views. One view that we talked about extensively as a class was Farhat Shazad, who has a view that really took me by surprise.

Shazad is an Educational disciplinary who wrote a research paper that looked into how Canadian students have had their memory changed. Her study took the narratives of 99 Canadian students regarding how they remembered the most recent War on Terror. In not so many words she concludes that there are social groups that surround us called “interpretative communities,” (Farhat Shazad. “The Role of Interpretative Communities in Remembering and Learning.” Canadian Journal of Education 34,3, 2011, 2015) that shape how we understand what we see and hear- changing how we view or own memory. They give our senses context. She explains that this can be on purpose or by accident and that it can be noticeable or very subtle. They are any social group around us, some of which include but are not limited to, family, school, neighborhoods, political districts, figures of authority and media outlets. The possibilities are endless, all of which change how we make sense of what we see and remember.

Looking at her argument from the outside and using sociological imagination to test her argument on myself, I noticed that it holds some truth. Sticking to her example on the War on Terror, my family has had a tremendous effect on my thinking. My family is quite politically left on the spectrum and I remember my dad explaining to me what 911 was and why it happened. I remember my aunt explaining to me why there was a war in Iraq. An example being that George Bush was less than academically adequate to be president, to put it nicely. Which is right of coarse. To Shazad’s defence, that view of George Bush has been constant through out my whole life with my high school teachers, class debates, friends and the same televised network that I was always watch for news. This is despite other media and communities in the United States that praise him. How can I tell Shazad that my opinion of President Bush has not been influenced by anyone but what I have seen. And even then its what I have seen on the news about him, not anything I have seen in person.

Now I have a problem with this. Being totally honest I am not sure if this is because I genuinely don’t believe in her argument or if I don’t like what her argument insinuates about my memory. From my 18 years of being here I realize now that I have taken the act of memory for granted just because everyone has it and it is seen as your possession that no one can take away. For me personal memory, is exactly that, it is personal. Memory is seen with your own eyes and seeing something with your own eyes is far more convincing that reliving it through someone else. When I see something with your own eyes there is no second-guessing or questioning and it really scares me to think that other people have some degree of control over what I see and feel. I still feel as though some personal memory causes you to question larger societal thoughts and challenge them. After all personal memory can still be pure.

But in case you were wondering, President Bush is still a huge idiot.