I chose the themes of cultural displacement, the passage of time and decay, nostalgia vs dystopia, and the gaze and objectification because they examine common patterns across a variety of different texts and cultural contexts. These themes highlight the struggles of individuals navigating identity, but also expose the idea of how power can shape individuals memory, perception, and sense of self. As I analyzed texts ranging from The Memory Police to poetry by Kendrick Lamar, I was surprised by how often these seemingly individual and unique experiences are actually tied to larger societal structures, especially through institutional erasure, patriarchal surveillance, or colonial narratives. For example, there was an unexpected connection between Kendrick Lamar’s "Institutionalized" to echo the same emotional divide seen in Persepolis 2 or Monkman’s The Daddies, yet they all somehow contributed to the broader feeling of alienation between cultural identities. The process involved in creating this mind map helped me learn how to draw connections between various methods of media, such as literature, art, and film. I was also able to see how recurring motifs, such as mirrors and books, hold different meanings and symbolic weight depending on the context. It also helped deepen my understanding of the course by realizing the importance of analysing societal issues within different texts, such as examining issues of gender, race, class, and memory. These issues are not isolated in one specific instance or text, rather they appear across this variety, helping further shape my knowledge and understanding of the issues present in many different aspects of society. I began to see how stories and symbols are all interconnected in one way or another, and learning to derive connections between these texts helps further my understanding about the way that different mediums are beneficial to understanding an issue from a multitude of perspectives.
