Developing an identity has been something of importance throughout history, today’s society, and literature. In many circumstances, being yourself is the best option; however, in other circumstances, changing your composition actually can be better. What’s important, though, is to first accept oneself as who one is, and then to evaluate oneself and make the changes necessary. As one will see, the different evaluations have resulted in vastly different individuals.
In the 20th Century, two very influential leaders became prominent in society: German Chancellor Adolf Hitler and civil rights activist Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. While both these individuals achieved great power, their evaluations of their self-identities couldn’t be more
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Obviously, Pecola is unhappy with her physical and emotional composition; therefore, she wants to find an out, per se, a new Pecola; one with blue eyes, a beautiful body, and many friends. In contrast, Pecola’s childhood friends, Frieda and Claudia, also aren’t blessed with the best living situation; however, unlike Pecola, they make the conscious decision to tightly grasp their roots and make the best of what they have. These juxtaposing decisions have juxtaposing consequences. Pecola’s life begins to disintegrate at the hands of her fallacious dream, and in doing so, Morrison clearly reiterates her argument that escaping one’s true identity rather than to embrace it ultimately leads to bitter consequences, yet Frieda and Claudia’s glass remains half full. One significant instance where senses of identity are exemplified occurs when Maureen walks into school with her light skin, wealth, and sense of self. Frieda and Claudia are not consumed by jealousy, while Pecola desires to be her mirror image, thereby demonstrating how jealousy is an undesired effect of a lack of self-identity. As a whole, Morrison’s employs juxtaposition.
Cases of escaping one’s identity also occur often in society. One newsworthy story associated with identity is gay athletes. I believe, as many others do, that several professional athletes are hiding their sexuality out of fear of not conforming to the norm. Are athletes sacrificing their happiness only to be accepted into the locker room?
What is personal identity? This question has been asked and debated by philosophers for centuries. The problem of personal identity is determining what conditions and qualities are necessary and sufficient for a person to exist as the same being at one time as another. Some think personal identity is physical, taking a materialistic perspective believing that bodily continuity or physicality is what makes a person a person with the view that even mental things are caused by some kind of physical occurrence. Others take a more idealist approach with the belief that mental continuity is the sole factor in establishing personal identity holding that physical things are just reflections of the mind.
My identity is something that that no one can take away from me. As I am still growing and learning, I can say that I have found many things that appeal to me. My interests will help define my personality and express myself in ways that I can’t express through words. I enjoy finding new things to do and doing my best in aiming towards my goals. I have many goals, but I know that I can only accomplish them through patience and perseverance.
Individuals often find the definition of identity complex and difficult to comprehend. A balance must be struck between the contending concepts that a person’s identity is founded on how they view themselves, or how others perceive them to be. During the 20th century, strict adherence to archetypal roles was expected. Who an individual was, how they interacted with others, and their status in society, was determined through the judgement of others and subsequently, the archetypal roles they were placed in. For Stephen, a young fifteen year-old who is struggling on achieving true self-fulfillment in a society that is male dominated, he drives his sense of identity and self-perception from how others see him.
Interactions between people are never ending. The effects of one conversation could affect the outcome of that person’s life, consequently changing their identity completely. There comes a time, though, when dealing with others confident in their identities, where one must ask themselves the personal question of “who am I?”. No matter if you’ve just stumbled upon this question, in the process of discovering the answer, consistently changing your answer, or confident in your answer, the people around you are the ones you have to thank for molding your personal identity.
Growing up in a generation with high expectations of identity that are constantly altering whether it’s the latest trends, styles and even mind-set principles, can be over whelming. When asked to describe one-self, we often are stuck thinking of what particular word could fully describe who we are as a person. We have such a hard time of coming with just one word because there is no form of describing one’s self. How we see ourselves, we may not want to be that the next day. “Looks can be deceiving” or “the first impressions are the most important” is commonly instilled in our mindset which it is true to some extent. Our work
Have you really understood what made you who you are? Let me clarify the answer by saying that we’re a mix of the personal and environmental factors that corresponds. Meaning, the persona sculpts us, just the same way as the environment. I’m convinced; Kate Chopin explores this in her 1892 short story Désirée’s Baby. In the story, the racist attitudes, and the prejudice society stimulates Desiree’s selfhood. Chopin questions whether we should jeopardise our self-dignity to preserve our identity?
Identity is what defines us as a person. Everyone one on earth has their own unique identity. To showcase my identity, I created a collage of images and descriptive words, called an identi-kit. This identi-kit shows what I feel like is my identity to myself and the others. My identi-kit identifies me as a mixed martial artist. The identi-kit has images of a deadly shark with mixed martial arts gloves on that say mixed martial arts on the front and fight shorts with the words competitor and warrior on them. It also has descriptive words like “killer instinct” and “fight” which describe my spirit. There are three assumptions that come to question when asking about one’s identity. The first is if you were born with this
Most people, unless they choose to be an outsider, want to be considered “cool.” Whether it’s to fit in with a peer group, or clique, or to impress someone in particular, like a member of the opposite sex, or a potential mate. Or possibly to gain something from an individual for financial or social gain (see “Scamming”).
Americans today tend to believe that each individual has their own distinct personality that represents who they are in the society. When it comes to the topic of identity, most of us will readily agree that Jay Gatsby and Forrest Gump’s identities changed through the lifetime. The changes in their identities bring huge differences in how they view themselves in love, wealth, social status, and friendship. Where this argument usually ends, however, is on the question of do we change our identity on purpose. Whereas The Great Gatsby is convinced that individuals can create their identities with strong efforts, Forrest Gump maintains that even if individuals don’t have self-reflective thinking, their identities can still shift, but both show
In, “Homophobia Is Rampant in Professional Sports,” Ford speaks about how in male dominated sports coaches or other team players have tendencies to shame athletes by calling them names such as “sissies” or “girls” (paragraph 1). Ford later talks the causes of homophobia being hyper masculinity and the humiliation that players were put though as children and teenagers in school teams to get short term gains (paragraph 14). The author also states that someone in a professional team could come out on a major team and survive, if they have the team support (paragraph 16).
Identity is a state of mind in which someone recognizes/identifies their character traits that leads to finding out who they are and what they do and not that of someone else. In other words it's basically who you are and what you define yourself as being. The theme of identity is often expressed in books/novels or basically any other piece of literature so that the reader can intrigue themselves and relate to the characters and their emotions. It's useful in helping readers understand that a person's state of mind is full of arduous thoughts about who they are and what they want to be. People can try to modify their identity as much as they want but that can never change. The theme of identity is a very strenuous topic to understand
To be an American is to have traits of freedom the thing that the founding fathers counted on is to have the will to speak freely and to have the will of religion in the constitution it say that every citizen should have life liberty and the pursuit of happiness. This impacts and brings everyone from different places to help create a society that is free. The founding fathers also counted for the people to speak for what is right. The reason is because this helps out on what the people want instead of the government wants this goes to show that the people matter and that is what makes a person happy and also makes a person feel like they have the pursuit to be happy.
There are numerous factors that either make up or restrain the self-identity of a person or an individual. Culture, in addition to family traditions, is one of the factors that affect the self-identity of an individual. When growing up, the environment around affect the personality, values, as well as, beliefs of an individual. The environment includes friends, family members, and the people that affect the life of an individual. So, if the environment is negative, then an individual will have low self esteem.
“Molly, dinner time!” my mother yells in a sing-songy voice from the first floor. My father calls the waitress over, “Excuse me, Molly” he states, trying to get her attention. The doorbell rings, and I answer it, “Hi, I’m Molly” says the cheerful little girl scout standing at my doorstep. Names are universal identifers; they shed no light about one’s personality. They are labels, they fail to display our identity because identity is a unique part of what makes you, you.
Our identity can sometimes be shaped by the way others see us. As we have seen, the way in which others view us can have some sort of impact on how we see ourselves. There are also other contributing factors such as our years of adolescence, the basic human need of wanting to belong and maturing; all play an equally important part in the forming of our character and who we are. On balance it appears that there is not only one influence in the shaping of our identity, but there are many.