Trauma seems to me being an essential topic to discuss in school as everybody sooner or later has to deal with loss or already dealt with it in the past. As every student can identify with this potential challenge, it is important for them to get to know different ways of dealing with trauma. Foer’s story even reveals that coping with trauma is able to bring people from different races and ages together. Even if people’s trauma is caused by different events there will be a connection between these people. Moreover, it would be possible to teach this topic interdisciplinary and interdisciplinary in ethics or religious education classes.
As everyone could be affected by trauma I determined this topic for my planned lesson. The reason for choosing the subtopics namely ‘inventing’ and ‘heavy boots’ referring to Oskar; Grandfather Schell’s ‘aphasia’ and ‘the doorknobs’ and finally, ‘supressing’ and ‘the feeling of being needed’ with regard to Grandmother Schell reveal concreteness for the main topic. I decided to teach the topic by group work to facilitate the exchange of experiences without the danger to be exposed in front of the class. I thought this is the best way, as the students can talk about how they perceived the character and his or her ability to deal with the trauma they have gone through. The team work is followed by a presentation and discussion of this work to ensure all students have reached the same level of knowledge. Moreover, it is important have the ability to emphasise with this character and change their perspectives or contribute their own experiences with loss to explain the others why somebody could show such behaviour.
I will analyse the topic by a characterisation following by a psychoanalytic approach. For one it is important to get to know why people are behaving differently after experiencing loss and second, it is illuminating for the students to become aware that trauma can be responsible for the person concerned being left with an altered personality. The lesson I have planned relates to both, characterisation and psychoanalytic approaches. After the lesson the students should have general knowledge about trauma and its effects. Furthermore, it should be clear that trauma can only be overcome by going through two phases, which build up upon each other.
Table of Contents
1 Introduction
2 A Brief Introduction to Trauma Theories
3 Analysis of Main Characters
3.1 Oskar Schell
3.2 Grandfather Schell
3.3 Grandmother Schell
4 Didactic Analysis
4.1 Range of Competences/ Main Objective
4.2 Didactical Reduction
4.3 Issues, Challenges and Alternatives
5 Conclusion
7 Appendix
7.1 Lesson plan
7.2 Entry Video
7.3 Worksheets
7.4 Home Burial by Robert Frost
Research Objective and Scope
This paper examines how the characters Oskar, Grandfather Schell, and Grandmother Schell in Jonathan Safran Foer’s novel cope with trauma, utilizing a psychoanalytic approach to analyze their reactions to historical events like the Dresden bombing and the 9/11 terrorist attacks, with the broader aim of developing a didactic framework for discussing trauma in a school setting.
- Psychoanalytic analysis of trauma coping mechanisms
- Literary character study of Oskar, Grandfather, and Grandmother Schell
- Development of educational strategies for teaching sensitive topics
- Application of trauma theories by LaCapra and Freud
- Interdisciplinary pedagogical approach for grade 11 students
Excerpt from the Book
3.1 Oskar Schell
The intelligence and inquisitiveness of the nine-year old Oskar Schell is obvious. Even though he uses short sentences like a child, he deals with lots of different adult topics for instance his favourite book Stephen Hawking’s A Brief History of Time. (11) Oskar even knows that Hawking suffers from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and that this involves the inability of using his hands, which does not seem very child-like (11). The boy is “too smart for his age” (Uytterschout, 228) and is totally aware of his intelligence which becomes clear when he claims to be a pacifist in his jujitsu class. Knowing children of his age do not know the word, Oskar explains it to them (2). He has a strong emotional bond to his father, who was as Ingersoll states “the perfect father, reminiscent of the idealized father figure” (55). This is illustrated when Oskar says that “[b]eing with him [makes] my brain quiet” (12) and gives the reader a feeling that Oskar places great trust in his dad. His father’s death evokes a deep change in Oskar’s life course. To be able to cope with this loss, he tries to get distracted by thinking about creative inventions he could develop: “I could invent a teakettle that reads in Dad’s voice, so I could fall asleep […]” (1)
As mentioned above Oskar thinks a lot about adult themes but, when it comes to his feelings he describes his grief by wearing “heavy boots”: [...] I got incredibly heavy boots about how relatively insignificant life is” (86). The metaphor of wearing heavy boots to describe his sorrow also implies its transference to a physical restriction. In situations of grief a person can feel paralysed by the event happening to us. Moreover, heavy boots sound as if they are too big for his feet, meaning in the figurative sense that the feeling is too intense to deal with. Hence, we are not able to move like we want to.
Summary of Chapters
1 Introduction: This chapter introduces the novel and the paper's intent to examine how three central characters cope with trauma while proposing an educational approach for its classroom discussion.
2 A Brief Introduction to Trauma Theories: The chapter outlines psychoanalytic foundations of trauma, specifically referencing Freud, Cathy Caruth, and Dominick LaCapra to define key stages like 'acting out' and 'working through'.
3 Analysis of Main Characters: This section provides a detailed psychoanalytic evaluation of Oskar, Grandfather Schell, and Grandmother Schell, highlighting their distinct, often defensive responses to personal loss.
4 Didactic Analysis: This chapter bridges literature and pedagogy, explaining how to implement the novel in a grade 11 curriculum to raise student awareness of trauma through group work and character analysis.
5 Conclusion: The summary synthesizes the findings, confirming that while all three characters suffer from trauma, only Oskar demonstrates a progression toward 'working through', whereas the grandparents remain largely stuck in the 'acting out' phase.
7 Appendix: This section contains the practical teaching materials, including a lesson plan, worksheets for group analysis, and the poem 'Home Burial' by Robert Frost as a comparative text.
Keywords
Trauma, Jonathan Safran Foer, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, Psychoanalysis, Acting out, Working through, Oskar Schell, Grandfather Schell, Grandmother Schell, 9/11, Dresden bombing, Didactics, Literature teaching, Coping mechanisms, Survivor guilt
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the central focus of this paper?
The paper focuses on the psychological processing of trauma in Jonathan Safran Foer's novel "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close" and explores how to integrate this complex topic into an English curriculum for secondary school students.
Which theoretical framework is utilized?
The author primarily employs a psychoanalytic approach, building upon the foundational theories of Sigmund Freud and later adaptations by scholars like Dominick LaCapra and Cathy Caruth.
What are the primary goals of the teaching unit?
The primary goal is to sensitize students to the realities of trauma, helping them understand that people react differently to loss and that there is no singular "right" way to cope with life-altering events.
How is the analysis structured?
The analysis is structured around three main characters (Oskar, Grandfather Schell, and Grandmother Schell), examining their specific behaviors and psychological states within the context of their traumatic histories.
What didactic methods does the author propose?
The author proposes a student-centered approach using group work, which allows students to analyze specific character traits and present their findings to the class, fostering peer-to-peer learning and safe exchange of perspectives.
What is the significance of the "acting out" vs. "working through" distinction?
These terms describe two phases of trauma processing: "acting out" involves being stuck in the past through repetition, while "working through" represents the healthier path of acknowledging the past while remaining grounded in the present.
Why are doorknobs significant in the chapters about Grandfather Schell?
The doorknob imagery acts as a metaphor for the grandfather's psychological state and his relationship with the past; a locked or keyless door symbolizes his inability to access his emotions or move forward from his trauma.
What role does the poem "Home Burial" play in the appendix?
It serves as an additional, comparative text that allows students to apply the trauma theories learned during the unit to a different literary work, broadening their understanding of how loss and grief are portrayed.
- Quote paper
- Michelle Klein (Author), 2015, Trauma in Jonathan Safran Foer’s "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close", Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/337802
