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The impact and change of collective memory on the present

Alex Zhang

Bachelor of Illustration, Sheridan College

CULT 20859GD: Collective Memory

Professor Jessica Carey

Spring, 2023

First paragraph:General Introduction

Second paragraph: General Introduction(event)

Third paragraph: Invention

Fourth paragraph: Forgetting

Fifth paragraph: Nostalgia

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Collective memory is a very unique but essential concept that exists in our lives; it refers

to the ways in which groups remember and construct their pasts in order to make sense of the

present and orient themselves to the future(Wertsch & Merten, 2008, p. 124). Furthermore, in

addition to shared memory among large groups and societies, collective memory derived from

individuals, forged by personal experiences and past events, plays an equally important role in a

person's development and reflection. In this paper on my memories, I will use the concept of

collective memory to interpret what I have learned from past events and what it means to me

now, genuinely interpreting that "collective memories of the past have different influences as we

change in the present."

First, a collective memory that still influences and helps me today is an English class

assignment on Shakespeare's Hamlet that I worked on with my classmates in high school. The

assignment involved assigning the class to work in teams of two and to recreate parts of Hamlet

in any way that expressed their creativity and interpreted the central meaning behind them. Many

of my classmates chose to do slideshows or short videos to save time, and it was not too much of

a hassle for them to do the assignment with friends they got to know very well. However, the

assignment was not the same for me because I had not studied abroad for a long time, and I was

not only shy and not good at socializing with others, but I also could not express myself well in

English, and I was not familiar with my classmates. However, I knew that I had a talent for

drawing and that it was better to use my strengths to try something different from others than to

be bothered by the format of the assignment, so I mustered up the courage to use my immature

English to find someone to work with and finally found a classmate who was very good at video

editing and technology, and who was also struggling with the assignment topic. With my

imaginative ideas, we collaborated on this unusual assignment. I provided the illustrations for
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each page, the other person was responsible for the video editing, and we interspersed the video

with the voiceover, resulting in a unique illustrated storybook with real people singing. This was

the first time since I came to Canada that I actively sought collaboration and experienced in my

own actions what I could do with my own strengths. It inspired me to be creative in the right

areas and has continued influencing me and my university program with assignments and

collaborations.

Based on the above experience, it is easy to see that the concept invented in personal

collective memory applies to my assignment because it allows me to make new narration and

interpretation of the existing assignment according to my ability and specialty. If the assignment

were not a collaborative assignment of two people, I would not have the motivation to realize my

creativity and give full play to my strengths, and I would not be able to generate any new ideas

and think about progress from the communication and discussion with classmates. I might not

have remembered this memory so profoundly if I had just graduated from high school. At best, I

would not have too many feelings about it as one of my assignments. However, after I was fully

exposed to the learning mode of the college and the weight of evaluation critiques from

classmates in the assignment, I increasingly felt that the influence of that assignment on me was

much more significant than I had imagined before. This varied challenge experience from

assignments and feedback from classmates further tested my all-around ability. It broadens my

understanding of the assignment itself and its impact on me and allows me to constantly generate

new ideas and inspirations in the learning process and get timely feedback, which is very

consistent with the definition of the invention.

Since I can naturally feel the influence of this personal memory slowly with the passage

of time and the approach of more advanced college assignments so that naturally leads to
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forgetting is also related to the assignment in this memory because as time goes by, I have

forgotten many details and detailed information about some assignments that I experienced

during high school and the first two years of college study. However, the central core ideas that

the assignment back in high school brought to me about "stepping out of my comfort zone" and

"giving full play to my characteristics and strengths," as well as the mature ideas that it inspired

in me about stepping outside the traditional framework and taking into account the comments of

my classmates have remained in my memory and continue to influence my actions and thinking,

because it has a clear enough memory point for me to remember. So that it will not fade away

over time; instead, it will prompt me to compare the current situation with that time more to see

my change and growth. Moreover, it proves that collective memory largely follows the rules that

govern individual memory and that collective memory can be studied in an objective way(Fu,

M., Xue, Y., DeSoto, K. A., & Yuan, T. F.,2016). However, Even though our individual

memories are in no way comparable in size and influence to the collective memories of a group,

their significance is much the same as their impact on their audience.

Finally, nostalgia is also essential for me to recall this memory because it will arouse my

memories and second thoughts when I experience similar situations so that I can think of the

accumulated experience in the face of similar occasions where I need to exert my ability and

cooperation. Although it has been many years since I finished this assignment, when I look at the

works from my current perspective, I find many things I want to improve. However, when I

recall the consciousness that I could summon up the courage to finish the assignment at a young

age that I cannot even think about now, I feel relief and relaxation because that led me to

continue my full development in art.

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In conclusion, the concepts of invention, forgetting and nostalgia in collective memory

are reflected practically in the cooperative assignment I completed in high school. Although the

memory of the homework I did in the past will gradually dissipate and become blurred as time

goes by, the subtle influence of this particular assignment will not fade with time but will be

slowly integrated into the core concept of my growing maturity as time goes on, and will stay

with me into the future. It will not be easily forgotten but will become a personal milestone, a

spirit and way of doing things deposited into my personal growth, like making a bottle of fine

wine, and eventually become an integral part of me. This is why I emphasize that the collective

memory of the past can change as we change in the present because it is not only a particular

example but also a seed to demonstrate how our own experiences can shape our collective

memory, to interpret the lessons from the past in the present and future. When we are genuinely

aware of the lessons from the past, anyone can learn something from it and move on to new

areas.
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References

Fu, M., Xue, Y., DeSoto, K. A., & Yuan, T. F. (2016). Remembering the Leaders of China.

Frontiers in psychology, 7,

http://psychnet.wustl.edu/memory/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Wertsch-Roediger-2008_

Mem.pdf

Wertsch, J. V., & Merten, J. W. (2008). Collective memory: Conceptual foundations and

theoretical approaches. Annual Review of Sociology, 34, 123-147.

Retrieved from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4811887/