Being An Other By Melissa Algranati Analysis

I saw, The Other Woman, written by, David Ives, at the UCM Blackbox Theatre on November 3, 2017. Connor Bosworth directed the show, and did a great job. The story surrounds an author who is met by his sleepwalking wife. She seems to be a completely different person, and when she wakes up in the morning she doesn’t remember a thing. He writes about his nights with her in his story, and lies to his wife saying that nothing happened. She seems to know what is going on, though she never admits it, and becomes depressed. Then a month passes without a sound, until we’re met by her sleeping alter-ego once again. The husband responds as he normally does, trying comfort her, then she reveals that she isn’t actually sleep walking this time. They get in an argument, but she starts going back and forth between her sleep walking persona and her awake one until she ends up in the former, who asks to sleep with his as they had before his awake wife got depressed, but this time he refuses to give in. Crap, this was supposed to be without spoilers, my bad.

In the boiling pot of America most people have been asked “what are you?” when referring to one’s race or nationality. In the short story “Borders” by Thomas King he explores one of the many difficulties of living in a world that was stripped from his race. In a country that is as diverse as North America, culture and self-identity are hard to maintain. King’s short story “Borders” deals with a conflict that I have come to know well of. The mother in “Borders” is just in preserving her race and the background of her people. The mother manages to maintain her identity that many people lose from environmental pressure.

There is a very different perception of the others as presented by the issue in the Miss Columbia School. Others are seen as the no Americans and particularly the non-whites who are seen to be inferior and cannot be compared to the American citizens. The male figure that is seen to

Sometimes, there is a person in the world who struggles with who he/she is really are and they are willing to do whatever it takes to figure out what type of person they are suppose to be, let alone they want to be. Take Jeanne for example, she was one of the few Japanese victims to be sent to an internment camp during WW1 called Manzanar. In the ‘Farewell to Manzanar’ book, Jeanne struggles with her identity as a Japanese-American and realizes that she will never be fully American because of the prejudice she experiences. It has been a thing that keeps bugging her, ever since she was sent to

Gabi A Girl in Pieces Essay In the novel Gabi A Girl in Pieces, by Isabel Quintero, an important relationship is with Gabi and her mother. The key events in the story, such as her father's drug problem, her Mexican-American culture, and her senior of high school and going off to college. Gabi goes through a lot in order to build a better relationship with her mom.

She spoke about how when she was younger people would make fun of her hair because it was long and that hurt her a lot, even though in her religion the girl’s beauty is represented by her hair. She said that she cut her hair to fit in, and she was happy at first, but then she was sad because she cut the only thing that made her beautiful. It made me sad because how cruel children could be to someone else. But the kids didn't know any better. I also understood what she went through because I am an immigrant and when my family came to America when I was three, we didn't know English, and for many years I had a really thick accent that I was ashamed of and kids made fun of. Then I tried harder and harder to try to get rid of the accent, I eventually stopped talking Spanish, even in my house because I wanted to speak perfectly in English, I was ashamed of my culture as well for a few years, I didn't let people know I was Dominican because most of the people in my class were Americans and I was trying to fit in. Eventually when I got to High School I was self confident and didn't care what people thought of my accent. I was proud again of saying that I was Hispanic and that I spoke Spanish, something that I was embarrassed to say for a few

A person’s identity may be determined by him/her family background and this is proven evident in the essay “Private and Public Language” by Rodriguez. We live in a world in which identities are determined prematurely without hesitation. This means that even without getting to know an individuals personality the first thing that is done instead is determining identities based on your physical state, family, or family background. As a culture we live in a diverse environment in which the majority of people come from a different place, and as a result many are identified differently depending on where he/she and their family are from. Today’s culture is more diverse than ever, and more and more people are migrating to different countries and settling so I feel like it

Identity is essential for people to be comfortable with themselves, stand out as individuals and connect to certain communities or cultures. In the book, Visible Identities, Linda Alcoff theorizes about topics such as, the role of race in society, the black and white binary, and benefit of communities formed around shared identities. Simone de Beauvoir’s concept of the Other, in her book, The Second Sex, also theorizes about identity and the separation that grows between different groups. In this concept, one group determines that itself is the One and anyone who does not fit into that group is the Other.

In a society which inherently seeks to categorise individuals, it is paramount that each person finds their genuine place in the world. The most powerful influences that impact on an individual’s sense of belonging include identity and heritage. It is a part of humanity which makes us desire to want to belong to a social, religious or even racial group which ultimately forms the person we become. Renowned author Carlson McCullers reflects these ideas. “I think the idea of wanting to belong haunts every child. And not only children. I think it is the primary question. 'Who am I? What am I? And where do I belong?”It is of grave importance that we understand we are simply mere shadows of

“Other,” defined by Encyclopedia of Identity in the chapter “Other, The” as “(which can refer to just one person or a group of people) is directly related to personal identity and how a person defines himself or herself” (“Other, The” 2). The book argues that being defined as other can be seen as something positive and can be something related to being unique, and a “motivation by the self to categorize and cognitively organized” (“Other, The” 2. However, this is not always the case. Othering is most commonly seen in the concepts of the “in-group favoritism” and “outgroup bias.” In-group favoritism, which can be thought of as the group that has the most similarities as oneself or whom one defines themselves as; their identity and out-group as those who do not share as most commonality. Othering can also affect younger generations because they are whom is learning from watching the othering.

The first thing that comes to mind when reading this story is language. I have a cousin that is related to me as I should say but I don’t talk Spanish at all. My cousin Lisa she is having the same problem like Maria as she quoted “You can leave the island of Puerto Rico, master the English language, and travel as far as you can, but if you’re a Latina, …. The island travels with you”. My cousin Lisa born and raised and in D.R now came to the U.S have the same exact problem about trying to fit in with us Americans but it’s very hard she said trying to speak proper English and knowing how to coordinate with clothing.

One might argue that to stand out is better than to fit in, but what good is it to stand out if a person is unfairly judged according to the principles of a cultural mainstream? With this, a person might find themselves trying to fit in by pretending to be someone they are not. Individuals put on a fake identity, in hopes that in doing so, they are given a fair chance to get what they want. Life can be hard for a person who chooses not to play their role assigned to them within their mainstream, as their every action is being judged by society under a microscope. If an individual’s true identity fails to assimilate to the cultural mainstream, they might find themselves being hindered by society on their path to success.

This series investigates our culture’s perception of “the other and otherness” and how prescribed labels determine society’s behavior toward a social group because of race, gender, sex, class, and religion. When someone is perceived to challenge the dominant group’s value and beliefs, they are marginalized and excluded. This exclusion leads to social groups without a political voice with fewer rights like not being able to marry someone that is the same sex or people of different race and class not having the right to vote. To explicitly challenge

A person’s family, race, culture, and life style within a society or a community are just a few factors that give him or her an identity. Coming to terms with understanding one’s identity is not simple because of the many factors defining it and might take one’s whole life to finally understand who he or she is. “Girl” by Jamaica Kincaid and “My Two-Lives” by Jhumpa Lahiri are both writing pieces that have characters who share these conflicting factors of identification yet still have very different views on which of these factors are more valuable to allow them to be accepted in their societies or communities.

“Otherness is constructed by human interaction and social categories and only ever exists in relation to a certain social order. It is thus a social construct that is employed consciously and unconsciously in identity formation, as both individuals and groups define themselves through delimitation of and opposition towards the mythical Other in order to create an identity for themselves (Rana 1).”