Is Identity Manipulative? Analysis of Corliss and Harlan in Alexie Sherman's Search Engine

In the beginning the class we were assigned groups and as a whole we had to find the literal point or subject of the readings that were due for the day and relate them to identity, attitude, or prejudice. This was to allow us to prepare to write our second major essay we had for writing 1. We were assigned the Andrew Sullivan readings, “what’s so bad about hate?”. The short excerpt from the article stated various situations in which the actions were categorized as a regular crime or a hate crime. The author then continued to discuss how adding a hate crime just complicates the verdict because no one except the individual knows why they committed the crime. Throughout the reading as a group we categorized the reading as one of identity. Everyone

Each and every person on this Earth today has an identity. Over the years, each individual creates their identity through past experiences, family, race, and many other factors. Race, which continues to cause problems in today’s world, places individuals into certain categories. Based on their race, people are designated to be part of a larger, or group identity instead of being viewed as a person with a unique identity. Throughout Richard Wright’s Black Boy, Richard is on a search for his true identity. Throughout Black Boy, one can see that Richard’s racial background assigns him with a certain identity or a certain way in which some

Joy felt bogged down in her home, with only Mrs. Freeman and her mother for company, Joy felt she was surrounded by intellectual peers. Mrs. Freeman and her mother’s conversations made Joy irritable, Joy’s affection toward her mother was low due to the way her mother described her “[I] thought of her still as a child because it tore [my] heart to think instead of the poor stout girl in her thirties who had never danced a step or had any normal good times” (O’Connor 6). The absence of love in her home allowed her vulnerability to have a harder presence.

Thesis: Identity is constructed through the character’s change/realisation of social ideals and personal experiences throughout the text.

Despite being a very diverse literature genre in terms of influence and inspiration, North American literature encompasses many works that share some very common thematic elements. Though there are several themes shared, one in particular can be found in most any work – the importance of identity. Particularly in some selected pieces yet to be named, identity is a very important element, not only because it is a necessity for a main character in any work of literature, but because these works express ideas about identity as being very individualistic – as opposed to being a mere result of cultural surroundings. Zora Neal Hurtson’s Their

Identity is one’s perception that shapes one’s mind. It reflects the outer aspect of personality and the life choices we make as an individual. In Anthem by Ayn Rand, a dystopian futuristic novelfuture, Equality talks about how society is integrated to try to control his mind, body, and spirit. In “Don’t. The secret of self control” by Jonah Lehrer, a nonfiction article, Lehrer explains an experiment where children are determined to be a high or low delayers. Furthermore, In “Who Holds The Clicker” by Lauren Slater, a nonfiction article, Slater explains analyzes the fear of how brain implants can treat intractable mental illness. The formation of identity is created when a person is tied to the choices he makes,

A child of the 1900’s had to work all day or all night instead of going out to play and enjoy their colorful life. Children from this era were not allowed to go to school instead they had to grow up at an early age and have many adult responsibilities. Florence Kelley’s message to the world was to share how wrong it was to have children staring at the age of six working for many companies in order to help feed themselves and their families. Kelly’s attempt was meant to get upper class women to listen and understand the suffering of the lower class children all over the country who had to give up their childhoods in order to grow up and work for what was almost nothing. Kelly wanted to create a strong message that would reach peoples soft spots in order to have change for a child’s future.

A person’s identity is unique from another individual’s and is shaped by a plethora of aspects, some being family, friends, culture, personal interests, environment, and society. These aspects all come together to influence a person’s identity, some having a more powerful impact on an individual than others. However, when a person is put into an environment or situation in which their perceived identity does not match those of their environment or society, the individual is now in isolation from his or her surroundings. During isolation, a person may struggle to find their true identity or remain true to their identity. This phenomenon is perfectly shown in the novels Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky and Brave New World by Aldous Huxley,

1. Randall Kennedy, an African American law professor at Harvard, has written that identity politics is “mere superstition and prejudice.” “I eschew racial pride,” says Kennedy, “because of my conception of what should properly be the object of pride for an individual: something that he or she has accomplished. I can feel pride in a good deed I have done or a good effort I have made. I cannot feel pride in some state of affairs that is independent of my contribution to it. I did not achieve my racial designation” (Atlantic Monthly, May 1997, p. 56). Do you agree? Explain, indicating how you think Kymlicka and Young (Part 4, Chapter 18) might respond.

Fabricating an identity is a task that all humans encounter, which requires a significant amount of time. Because it takes a while to establish, numerous factors, such as the environment and the group dynamic an individual is surrounded by, can effect the creation of the identity. In Malcolm Gladwell’s “The Power of Context: Bernie Goetz and the Rise and Fall of New York City Crime,” he explains human behavior in his analysis when presenting a theory to explain the time period when New York City was crime ridden. Gladwell argues that the physical environment of an individual plays a significant role in an individual’s behaviors and actions, which shape an individual’s identity. While Gladwell argues that an individual’s identity is a product of his or her surroundings and environment, Susan Faludi explains how choosing to take part in a group dynamic can significantly alter one’s identity in her “The Naked Citadel.” Faludi describes how the cadets come to The Citadel so they can escape the traditional roles of masculinity in the outside world, and arrive at a place where they are sometimes given the opportunity to live a vulnerable lifestyle. However, when the cadets arrive they are integrated into a group dynamic, which alters their own personal identities. The effects of the environment and group dynamic on one’s identity is portrayed in Azar Nafisi’s “Selections From Reading Lolita in Tehran.” Nafisi describes the time frame when her students secretly came to her

Where all her work stemmed from her strong character initially for she wanted to represent the truth above everything (Brown, p. #). For example she wanted her work to match with how she chose to live her life (Brown, p. #). For example, she made evert decision and addition to their home prayerfully and evaluated the necessity of it (Brown, p, #). Emma did believe in dressing appropriately, but did she ever seldom buy expensive items (Brown, p. #). Also, in showing her humble lifestyle and commitment to the school and their students, Emma never ate anything she knew that the students would not have (Brown, p. #). Seeking out to live a humble life that she did not grow up in, but created on for herself and for her family, but she did add culture to their home (Brown, p, 48). She never complained of the work she did but viewed it as a privilege (Brown, p.

Hopefully the unpleasantness of that experience didn’t taint further exploration for she was sure that there were many wonderful adventures to be had in this place. When she arrived at the hide-a-away cupboards she grabbed a bag of her favorite snack food, chocolate covered raspberries. The bags of berries were part of her personal allotment of comfort foods. She had always loved them, and when times were stormy throughout her life these always made her feel better. Growing up in Minerva she wanted for nothing. Her mom was an ambassador and her father was the head of the engineering department of the most prestigious university in the city. They were fairly well off and she had gotten pretty much anything she wanted, but being rich wasn’t all it was cracked up to be. She remembered that most of her friends always seemed to be of the same sort, shallow, spoiled, rich kids, she did her best to have fun and why not but inside she always felt that that wasn’t really her scene. When her parents had parties at their place she had to dress up and mingle with the high rollers and make polite conversation, she indeed detested most of the parties that she was forced to attend. What she detested more was that if she stayed along the path that her mother and father had paved for her she would become one of them making

The following paper will discuss two of the major dimensions of my cultural identity, and analyze the way in which my identity holds privileges, or has exposed me to oppression. Being that I am white, I have lived a life of privilege simply because of the color of my skin. I have been afforded opportunities, and lived a life free from persecution due to my skin color. I have also lived a life that has been impacted by oppression because of my female identity. This unique position between privilege and oppression is where I live my life.

“She grieved incessantly, feeling that she had been born for all the little niceties and luxuries of living. […] All these things, which another woman of her

Society contains a vast majority of different types of people, and all of them look, act, and think differently. How we as individuals do these things, are greatly influenced by the people around us, as our differences makes us judge others. In creating our own identity, our reliance on others is consequently grand, which can be either a fine or a dreadful matter. For some, the prejudice in the perceptions of others can cause the truth to be exceedingly twisted. It can be disturbed to such a degree, that the image of others is completely opposite of how it is in reality. This is what each character in Higson’s short story The Red Line experiences. Higson questions and plays with the role identity