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5 pages/≈1375 words
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Chicago
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History
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Reaction Paper
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English (U.S.)
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Topic:

The Leprous Daybreak and the Refugee Narratives; Oral History and Ethnography

Reaction Paper Instructions:

https://www(dot)youtube(dot)com/channel/UCrRVaXkoKrKu4cFXvn4PPEg - This is the link to two of the oral history videos, required for part Bof topic two of the assignment. rest of the details are mentioned in the final assignment pdf

This Assignment has two topics, you have to complete both. Please read the prompt carefully and respond to all parts of the questions. Please remember the following: 
-Focus on the topic/question. Do not try to cover everything, but respond to the question. Giving your assignment a quick read before submitting it is one of the best ways of making sure that you have answered the questions.
-Support your statements and points with sufficient examples or short quotes from the study material.
-Provide accurate details. This is a take-home assignment; you have access to all your material and hence, there are no excuses for factual errors.
-Use this format: double-spaced, one-inch margin, 12 font size, accepted files: word doc, and pdf.
-Cite your sources using any style you are comfortable with, but please be consistent. Check your write-up for grammatical or style errors before submitting it. 
-Use of internet sources such as Wikipedia or any kind of copy/paste job from questionable sources is absolutely discouraged. You must maintain complete honesty in your work. Plagiarism or academic dishonesty will result in a negative grade. So, have faith in your own analytical skills! 
Topic One: 600-700 word (10 points) Background: Chapter 8 of the book by Yasmin Khan, The Great Partition, is titled, “Leprous Daybreak.” The title of this chapter is indicative of the failed promise of independence and how the dawn or “daybreak” of independence from colonial rule was marked by the trauma of the Partition of India into India and Pakistan. This chapter has examined the problems caused by the Partition and the harrowing experiences of ordinary people. 
Topic: In your write-up, reflect on the following: Do you think the “Leprous Daybreak” title is appropriate for this chapter? Why? You must discuss at least two or more examples from the chapter to point out why this title works. You are highly encouraged to use Ch. 7, pp. 217-223 from the Metcalf and Metcalf book or other relevant course material in support of your arguments. Cite your sources, please!
Topic Two (10 points):
Background: 
Historians have pointed out that oral history or interviews based on people’s memories can tell us about certain aspects of a society’s past of which we may know very little or nothing from other types of sources. For historians of India’s Partition, interviews or testimonies have been major sources of reconstructing the painful experiences of ordinary people of India and Pakistan during 1946-1948 and beyond.  
Topic:This topic has two parts, please read and respond to both:
Part A (300-350) 5 points. Please summarize Lindsay French’s article, “Refugee Narratives; Oral History and Ethnography; Stories and Silence.” In your answer, please address what the main argument is, the importance of peoples’ personal stories, and the importance of silences. 
Part B (300-350) 5 points. Based on French’s article and the two oral history interviews showed on Friday (12/9), point out how these videos highlight the importance of memory and oral history in understanding traumatic events like the partition. You must include specific references from these interviews to earn full credit. Feel free to also include any relevant information from the BBC documentary, India’s Partition: Forgotten Stories  Cite your sources for both parts, please!  
Links to the video and the Lindsay French reading are available on Moodle.
~All the Best~ 

Reaction Paper Sample Content Preview:

Understanding Traumatic Events
Student’s Name
Course
Date
Part A (The Leprous Daybreak)
Ideally, independence in all aspects of human life is greeted with profound jubilation and pomp. This is because it provides people with a sense of belonging, which, in turn, gives them a sense of purpose. Independence also allows entities the autonomy to make critical decisions without outside interference. However, the contrary happened when India gained independence from British rule because it was partitioned into two separate nations; India and Pakistan. Wanton atrocities visited on innocent and hapless citizens marked the partition. The atrocities included, among others, rape, abduction, and murder that pervaded most of the expansive country. In her book, the great partition, Yasmin Khan offers a detailed and graphic description of the violence that reigned supreme during the unforgettable event. According to her, violence sits at the core of any history of partition, and the phenomenal extent of killing at such times distinguishes partition as an event. That said, the extensive violence that welcomed India’s independence prompted Khan to give the eighth chapter of her book the title, “the leprous daybreak.[Yasmin Khan. The Great Partition: The Making of India and Pakistan. New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 2017, 129.]
The Title is Appropriate
In my opinion, the title is appropriate for chapter eight of the book by Khan for several reasons. First, it would be critical to examine the superficial meaning of the words "leprous" and "daybreak." The word "leprous" comes from the word leprosy, which means a morally or spiritually harmful influence. On the other hand, Khan uses daybreak symbolically to signify the dawn or beginning of a new era. Precisely, Khan uses the title to underscore undesirable occurrences that characterized the beginning of India’s independence. They were tremendously harmful to the spiritual and moral fabric of the country, which was rent to tatters. The country was partitioned into two parts in a historical event that recorded unprecedented proportions of violence that had far-reaching consequences.[Merriam-Webster. Leprosy. n.d. -webster.com/dictionary/leprosy.]
First, citizens of India bore the brunt of the partition in the most horrendous ways one can imagine. In Punjab, for instance, nefarious gangs perpetrated grisly murders with abandon, besides other horrible acts. Children watched helplessly as these gangs dismembered their parents or burned them alive. In addition, women were subjected to rape, and their breasts and genitalia ruthlessly mutilated. To be precise, the marauding gangs summarily executed entire populations of villages. As such, broken bodies lying along roadsides and train platforms became a common feature, which rent the air with a putrid stench. The killers, who bordered on momentary insanity, acted out of fear or self-defense. They rode on a carefree wave of euphoria, which induced them to engage in sheer and dense violence. Other factors that contributed to the growth of the killer gangs included promises of martyrdom or heroism, depending on whether they lived or died. In addition, the allure of spoils gotten from looting was an unchecked...
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