![]() The break also speaks to the effect his trauma has ingrained in him and how “or the longest time,” his only memory of that year revolves around an image of a boy’s death. This line break averts the readers’ expectation of the direction of the narrative and immediately shifts the tone of the poem. Within the first couple of lines of the poem, the poem demands the readers’ attention when the line breaks from “floating” to “dead” as the speaker describes his memory of Little Billy (Nguyen 1-4). In tandem with the fluctuating nature of memory, the utilization of line breaks and word choice help reflect the damage the molestation has had. It also splits the poem in two: a section that talks of the fogginess of memory then transitions into one that remembers it all. ![]() This stream-of-consciousness-like section when juxtaposed with the latter half of the poem, causes readers to slow down and pay attention to the details. He speaks in this urgent manner until the 14th line, and when he finally gets it off his chest, the pace of the poem changes, as does the more frequent use of the period. Serving as another connector of thoughts, the two em dashes give emphasis to the role memory plays when the speaker discusses how “no one a face” during that time (Nguyen 9-11). This is exemplified by the lack of periods to finalize a thought and instead, Nguyen uses other punctuation marks to connect them. If reading the poem following the conventions of punctuation, a sense of urgency is present here, as well. In the first half, the poem makes use of commas, em dashes, and colons, which lends itself to the idea of the speaker stringing along all of these details to make sense of this time in his life. It finally comes after the speaker reveals to his readers the possible, central purpose for writing this poem: the speaker's molestation. Just by looking at the poem, we see that the first period doesn’t appear until line 14. The speaker recalls his experience with such painful memory through the use of specific punctuation choices. While he moves the readers with this poignant narrative, Nguyen effectively conveys the resulting internal struggles of feeling alone and unseen. ![]() Throughout the poem, Nguyen writes in free verse, permitting a structural liberation to become the foundation for his message to shine through. In his poem, “The Study,” the poem's speaker recounts the year in which his molestation took place, describing how his memory filters in and out. How does a person, a young boy, cope with an event that forever changes his life? Hieu Minh Nguyen deconstructs this very way in which an act of sexual violence affects a survivor. ![]() No matter how much you try to block out the instance in which these two things occurred, memories surface and come back to haunt you. Stripped of innocence, your body taken from you. How Nguyen’s Structure Solidifies the Impact of Sexual Violence in “The Study” ![]()
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