Memento: Accuracies and Inaccuracies

In this assignment, you will need to evaluate the movie Memento in terms of how accurately it portrays the facts of anterograde amnesia and the realities of the living a normal life with anterograde amnesia.

The main character in Memento is Leonard Shelby, a former insurance investigator, who spends the movie chasing down the man who killed his wife and destroyed his memory. At various points in the movie, Leonard describes his condition (anterograde amnesia). The movie also shows the degree to which Leonard's life and ability to deal with day-to-day events is affected by his condition.

One of the reasons I like this movie and why it is being used for this assignment is because it does a pretty good job (as far as movies go) in terms of describing anterograde amnesia, what causes it, and how it affects learning for those afflicted with condition. However, the movie is not perfect and it gets quite a few things wrong as well. For your paper you will need to do some research and describe in your paper how the movie accurately portrays anterograde amnesia and how it inaccurately portrays anterograde amnesia.

Required Sources for Your Research

The movie Memento (This is available for rental at most movie rental stores. I have also put the movie on course reserve at Kresge Library)
This video of Clive Wearing who is an amnesiac with a 30 second memory span
This NPR interview about H.M. who was one of the most researched amnesiacs in history.

Additional sources of information

Your textbook (note: you can complete this assignment using only the required sources and either the textbook or lecture resource)

The class lecture

Information you find online

A Google search will reveal several sources of information about the accuracy of the portrayal of anterograde amnesia in Memento. It is fine if you use these or other internet sources for your paper. If you decide to to this, keep in mind the following:

You must cite all internet sources you used in your paper in appropriate APA style. You can find copies of the APA Style guide in the library. You could also use this online APA citation guide resource.

Paraphrase!!! I can not stress this enough! Do not copy your sources verbatim.

Some of the information you will find online may contain the same innaccuracies as those shown in the movie. They may miss many accuracies and inaccuracies because they were not written by students taking a Cognitive Psychology class and did not use the Clive Wearing and H.M. videos/recordings as a comparison group.

Just because you see the same information on several sites does not mean that information is accurate. Many sites copy from each other. Please do not make the same mistake.

Issues to address in your paper

In the movie, did they describe Leonard's disorder correctly and would it be possible for Leonard's injury to cause anterograde amnesia?

Anterograde amnesia is sometimes also called "short term memory loss." In the movie, Leonard said that he "has no short term memory." Use what you know about short term memory (from the book and/or the lecture) to discuss how accurate that statement is.

In the movie, Leonard tells everyone about "his condition." Based on what you learned from watching the Clive Wearing video and the H.M. interview, explain whether it would be likely that Leonard would even know to tell each person he met about his condition.

Based on the video you watched of Clive Wearing and the NPR piece on H.M., explain whether you think that someone with Leonard's degree of anterograde amnesia could survive on his own in a strange city (Leonard is not living in his house and is in a strange city in the movie).

Discuss at least two specific examples from the movie that are accurate representations of something that could happen to someone with anterograde amnesia.

Discuss at least two specific examples from the movie that are NOT accuracte representations of something that could happen to someone with anterograde amnesia - OR - provide at least two examples from your internet research (if you conducted internet research) that were inaccurate discussions of the accuracy of Memento.

Finally, you MUST include a reference section with your paper. It will not count towards your 5 page limit.

Feel free to address other aspects about the movie that were or were not accurate representations of someone suffering from anterograde amnesia.

In your paper, you must address the issues listed above and you don't have to address any other aspects. Iin other words, it is possible to earn full points on the paper by only addressing the issues listed above. However, if you find the topic interesting or enjoyed looking through the movie for accuracies and inaccuracies go ahead and speak your mind. It won't hurt your grade and it could possibly help your grade.

Be sure to follow the Applied Writing Assignment Criteria when writing your paper.

If you have any questions about this assignment or how to finish it, please contact me.

Memento: Accuracies and Inaccuracies

In this assignment, you will need to evaluate the movie Memento in terms of how accurately it portrays the facts of anterograde amnesia and the realities of the living a normal life with anterograde amnesia.

Required Sources for Your Research

The movie Memento (This is available for rental at most movie rental stores. I have also put the movie on course reserve at Kresge Library)

This video of Clive Wearing who is an amnesiac with a 30 second memory span

This NPR interview about H.M. who was one of the most researched amnesiacs in history.

Additional sources of information

Your textbook (note: you can complete this assignment using only the required sources and either the textbook or lecture resource)

The class lecture

Information you find online

A Google search will reveal several sources of information about the accuracy of the portrayal of anterograde amnesia in Memento. It is fine if you use these or other internet sources for your paper. If you decide to to this, keep in mind the following:

You must cite all internet sources you used in your paper in appropriate APA style. You can find copies of the APA Style guide in the library. You could also use this online APA citation guide resource.

Paraphrase!!! I can not stress this enough! Do not copy your sources verbatim.

Just because you see the same information on several sites does not mean that information is accurate. Many sites copy from each other. Please do not make the same mistake.

Issues to address in your paper

In the movie, did they describe Leonard's disorder correctly and would it be possible for Leonard's injury to cause anterograde amnesia?

Anterograde amnesia is sometimes also called "short term memory loss." In the movie, Leonard said that he "has no short term memory." Use what you know about short term memory (from the book and/or the lecture) to discuss how accurate that statement is.

In the movie, Leonard tells everyone about "his condition." Based on what you learned from watching the Clive Wearing video and the H.M. interview, explain whether it would be likely that Leonard would even know to tell each person he met about his condition.

Based on the video you watched of Clive Wearing and the NPR piece on H.M., explain whether you think that someone with Leonard's degree of anterograde amnesia could survive on his own in a strange city (Leonard is not living in his house and is in a strange city in the movie).

Discuss at least two specific examples from the movie that are accurate representations of something that could happen to someone with anterograde amnesia.

Finally, you MUST include a reference section with your paper. It will not count towards your 5 page limit.

Feel free to address other aspects about the movie that were or were not accurate representations of someone suffering from anterograde amnesia.

Be sure to follow the Applied Writing Assignment Criteria when writing your paper.

If you have any questions about this assignment or how to finish it, please contact me.