Uni Assignment 1
A few years ago, when I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do after leaving a stressful job, I started university, where I learned more about writing and pushed myself to become the author people would love to read. So, interspersed between other blog posts, I will post my assignments, tutor comments, and scores (where I downloaded the results). Because I don’t have permission to release my tutor’s names, I will be editing any references to them.
I am pasting my assignments unedited, except for formatting for the website.
From memory (because I didn’t save the rubric), the assignment was to create two portraits: one of a real person and another of a fictional character. Each had a work count of 400 plus a reflection piece of 25 words.
The first portrait is of a woman I know, who suffers from amnesia following a medical episode, and the second portrait is of the character, The Time Traveller, from H.G. Wells’s The Time Machine.
Portrait of an amnesiac
There is something different about Kym, a gentle, childlike quality in her body language and speech, unlike you'd expect from someone 54 years young. Her hands tell part of the story as she talks about herself and her past. Palms up, she seems to grasp at the words as though her next would solve her problems, and she pulls her palms toward her head when she thinks of who she could have been in her previous life.
By 'previous life', it's not meant in the metaphysical sense or reincarnation, but retrograde amnesia (Reed & Squire, 1998), which can render a person's memories, identity and self void.
For this reason, our conversation doesn't delve into past life regression. Leading up to October 2017, Kym, her husband and their children lived on Magnetic Island, where she worked as a massage therapist. Kym suffered a mild stroke. The medics placed her in a medically induced coma, fearing she might not make the journey to the mainland. They used Propofol (Propofol, 2022), a drug Michael Jackson had taken (Goldman, 2009). Little did they know she had allergic reactions to most medications, so when she woke, she had no memory—not of her married life, her children or what she did for a job.
Sitting over the table, with those hands speaking half the story, she tells me about the moments after she woke up. The pain scratched down her throat, but she says it could have been the airway tubes. She was confused by people she didn't know, wandering around and speaking in an unknown language. Then a stranger with a familiar smell sat beside her with family photos on his phone, trying to explain everything; It was confronting.
Kym says she didn't recognise her husband or children or understand language, emotion, or natural body functions. The doctors called her a blank canvas.
She talks about her younger self in the third person. 'I've had to re-learn emotional memory, but the muscle memory, I have regained by stepping back into work. You are Kym … I try to search for her, but I still haven't [found her], so I've had to let that go, because I wanted to run … away from everyone, so I've had to reinvent her.'
In a world made by media, it has been difficult for some to believe her or understand her condition, thinking it has given her a second chance at life. At 49, Kym lost everything she was, and now at 54, she doesn't think herself lucky; she didn't get a second chance; she experienced the death of her personality.
Kym is focusing on building her new life with her family, who never left.
Statement- I researched amnesia for my questions but used the day Kym woke up as the focal point. Out of respect, I didn't include defining details.
Bibliography-
Goldman, R. (2009). Michael Jackson Had 'Lethal Levels' of Propofol Before Death. https://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/MichaelJackson/story?id=8401979
Propofol. (2022). https://www.drugs.com/propofol.html
Reed, J. M., & Squire, L. R. (1998). Retrograde Amnesia for Facts and Events: Findings from Four New Cases. The Journal of Neuroscience, 18(10), 3943-3954. https://doi.org/10.1523/jneurosci.18-10-03943.1998
Portrait of a time traveller
The apparent inventor of time travel arrived at his own dinner almost 10 minutes late. The others in the room are between anger and indifference; most are there for the spread of juicy mutton expertly cooked by his housekeeper, Mrs. Watchett (p.18), the fine wine and the company of the other professionals. This time traveller keeps an interesting group of upper-class friends from medical, psychology, and journalism backgrounds, the Provincial Major, and a few others.
The man of the hour is only referred to as the Time Traveller for his security and privacy. The week prior, he'd put on a demonstration that caused quite a discussion amongst his so-called friends with that trick, making his toy model disappear. During that meeting, his manner was that of excitement and confidence.
When the door flung open, the unshaven, pale, dirty face of the Time Traveller emerged. His body slumped at the doorway in apparent exhaustion. Besides the green smeared down his sleeves, his hair and clothes matched his grey eyes (p.4). The cloud of dust behind him settled in the lamplight before he lurched forward to scull a glass of champagne and another. His voice crackled, and his breath slowed from adrenaline. 'Save me some of that mutton. I'm starving for a bit of meat' (pp.13-14). Whatever happened rattled him down to his blooded socks.
He'd washed his face and changed his clothes before returning, stuffing the silver fork ladened with mutton and salty gravy into his mouth and unceremoniously swigged the fine wine. When his plate was empty, he began to tell his wild story of travelling into man's future, the year 820,701AD, to be exact.
The Time Traveller is no dullard; in fact, “he has a whim among his elements” (p.12) that leaves you with distrust for his word. The recollection of his account was convincing, but his brashness marred the authenticity.
How could man be divided into two? The Eloi, pretty little things living on the surface, frail (p.24) and submissive, for which he befriended one named Weena. The other half of man, the Morlocks, were surviving underground, afraid of the light, barbaric and domineering.
Puffing on a cigar, he said, 'I could fancy myself flinging the whole dozen [Eloi]… like nine pins'. Later he spoke about the massacre of the Morlocks by his hand. He glanced about the room when he mentioned Weena's death. '… I felt the intensest wretchedness for the horrible death of little Weena. … it is more like the sorrow of a dream than an actual loss' (p.75).
Even though the Time Traveller brought humanity to the people—with his knowledge, he seems more savage than those he'd mentioned.
Statement- My language and use of gendered wording closely reflect that of the book, and I derived my conclusion from Wells's language.
Citations-
Wells, H. G. (2004). The Time Machine (EBook #35 ed.). Project Gutenberg.
I didn’t capture the details of this assignment, so there was no marking sheet to share, although I think this was for peer review.
Book 1 of Burn the Sky is now out. Paperback is coming, hopefully this week, after I have received the proof version.
