Prompt Question
Prompt for Paper 1
Martha Stout’s discussion of the disconnect that characterizes the traumatized self ranges from sharply experienced physical sensations without stimulus (pp. 434–5) to “divided awareness” (423, passim), to name but two instances. Her essay looks at how biology, but also play, imagination, and a capacity to form symbolic connections between events, thoughts, and images contribute to self-awareness.
Using close-reading techniques and drawing evidence from key points in the text, write an essay that answers the question in bold.
How, and why, does the capacity to make symbolic connections disrupt the coherence of self in Martha Stout’s analysis?
Food for Thought
The following questions may help you imagine different approaches to this main question in bold. They are intended only to help you develop your argument. Please don’t try to answer them all in your paper.
What is the importance of the physical dissociation that some trauma patients experience (Stout)? How does derealization affect one’s sense of body? of pain? How does it affect one’s perception? How does it affect one’s sense of self?
Stout gives examples of how pain and other physical events are psychosomatically induced. One example of this is shin pan. If the psyche can create such changes in the body, to what extent is the body simply a construct of the mind?
Why does Stout emphasize humans as “symbolic creatures” (430)? How does the symbolic capacity she identifies in people help them make sense of themselves? How does it help them make sense of others? Why is it important? Why does the ability to relate different events or thoughts through symbols matter? How does this symbolic capacity relate to narrative (story)? How does narrative connect to a sense of self? Can thinking in symbols ever serve to unify the self?
Since in trauma, sensations and feelings may “always have been completely without language” (422), how much sense does it make for people suffering from trauma to engage in psychotherapy? Why is the relationship between therapist and patient so important to Stout? How does its significance support her argument regarding trauma, memory, and awareness?
How does gender enter into the construction of a self for Stout? Is gender more symbolic than biological for Stout? Think about the differences between Julia, Seth, and Lila.
How can Stout’s insights into how we make up our identities help us understand the dynamics of human bonding and love? In light of the many disconnected states of mind that Stout discusses, can we ever really love ourselves? Can we
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ever love anyone else? How, according to Stout, can we ever know that we’re in love?