Reflection About Identity

This research discusses the many different ways of how society can influence identity. In the book the girl who fell from the sky by Heidi Durrow, it talks about a girl named Rachel Morse. Rachel Morse tries to put her tragic past behind her by keeping away her feelings. She goes to live with her grandmother. Rachel pretends to be a new girl after her mother killed herself and her siblings. As life starts to get hard for her, she remembers her father’s promise that he would come back and get her. The years passed and her father did not come which made Rachel gets more and more annihilate by the way she is judged based on the color of her skin. After Rachel started school in Portland, she became aware of being bi-racial. She believed

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

Our identities are key to our understanding of the world. Mental models through which information is processed are built off of life experience, taught ethics and morals, and upbringing. Identity is discussed in the following texts - The Politics of Exile by Elizabeth Dauphinee, “Unlearning the Myth of American Innocence” by Suzy Hansen, and “Letter to America” by Aida Hozic - through various themes of American culture. Dauphinee, in particular, examines the depth of personal identity and its ability to change. All three works consider the many components of personal identity and its formation as well as its undoing.

One of Beverly Tatum’s most popular works, Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?, outlines racial identity development and shows us what it means to be Black in today’s society. Tatum uses reasonable examples of her experience both as a parent and as a college professor. She is able to get readers to think in ways that might not be comfortable but are necessary and compelling. Recognizing understanding and embracing

     Identity is one of the main questions throughout all of our readings, because it is hard for people to accept who they are in society. Accepting their identity as a minority with little if any freedoms

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 communicates a strong characteristic that cannot naturally be expressed in terms of a social category. Social and personal identity enable the formation of an individual, reflecting the idea that social categories are assured with the bases of an individual’s self esteem. “Race and racial identity are identifiable as a social constriction culture” (Little and McGivern, 328). However, issuing social categories based on race or ethnicity links to biased regulations and practices. Johnson’s novel, The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man, examines ways racial identity is socially constructed through the segregation of Jim Crow Laws, the act of "passing off” another race, and through practices of lynching. The Autobiography of an Ex Colored Man explores the way racial identity is socially constructed within legally sanctioned forms of racism and discrimination.

There are several important things that are discussed in the second chapter of "Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?” by Beverly Daniel Tatum. The topic of identity is brought up and how members of a dominant group take it for advantage. The members of an advantaged group, never have to mention their identity since it is considered to be the standard. However, when it comes to subordinate groups, we always have to mention our identities as it is always pointed out. Beverly Tatum also discusses how the dominant group has the power to control things to their liking so that they are at a better advantage. Things such as houses or jobs are sooner going to a dominant group than a subordinate group.

The term identity is defined by Webster’s dictionary as being “the state or fact of remaining the same one or ones, as under varying aspects or conditions” however in exploring the concept of Identity in black literature, we can find no definite explanation or definition. We can try to accept that it has been rooted in social situations that are generally more discriminatory, such the institution of slavery. In some way shape or form, the average or normal African American is confronted with the question of where do I fit in amongst the white society? The problem with African American Identity has many dimensions, such as community, class, and color.

Someone once said, the identity of one changes with how one perceives reality. As we try to find our purpose in life, we begin to create an identity different from the one given to us. “From the House of Yemanja”, author Audre Lorde conveys a story of a speaker who tries to create her own identity but does not know which identity is truly hers’. Lorde develops the idea of the speaker’s dual identity through juxtaposition as well as imagery. W.E.B DuBois’ piece, “The Souls of Black Folks”, talks about the struggles African Americans face in a white dominated world. Dubois develops his theme by using eloquence as well as magniloquence language to develop a persuasive central idea to ultimately destroy the double-identities. Both Lorde and DuBois develop a central idea around the idea of twoness: the sense that mentally, one is split into two different personalities. By using rhetorical devices; a technique designed to have a persuasive or impressive effect on its audience, Lorde and DuBois convey their stories how twoness through their writings.

Throughout my life, certain identities have remained consist. And these identities have come to shape my perspectives and my needs and wants within American culture. Typically, my social

Beverly Daniel Tatum explores the multiple identities taken on by a variety of different people and their impact on society. Tatum argues how not only does one defines his/her identities for him/herself but also others around the person may also define his/her identities. She also argues how parts of one’s identities also sets that person apart from the whole, whether the whole be the community or a classroom. By embracing different identities for oneself, Tatum then argues how some identities are more dominant than others, thus different groups have different variability in their influence on society as a whole but also on that person’s own self-identity. Tatum concludes her essay arguing her point that people are oppressed by their own identities

When we think of identity, there are many different things that come to mind such as race, gender, personality, sexuality and many others. In this essay I am going to focus on racial identity and skin color. You are going to be reading about some things that I struggled with in my life being black and somewhat being different compared to everyone else. I will be comparing my stories to Sherman Alexie’s experiences in life. Sherman Alexie is a indigenous american Poet, Short story writer and filmmaker who writes about his experiences that he had growing up because of his race or the way he looks. For this essay I am going to utilize “Indian Education” and two of my favorite stories by Sherman Alexie that I feel I can pertain to.

An identity is a role played by each individual expressed with new customs and a different lifestyle based on self-decisions. People seem to create different identities based on different situations. Some people are ok with their identity while others are cool with changing their identity to fit in. Identity undergoes constant changes based on physical, mental, and even spiritual problems. The sense of identity is something that we are deeply driven by and is not only important to life, but also death. Identity with purpose is the idea that is most important in “Harlem Hopscotch”. It is interesting that the identity of Africans has been stripped away through slavery and many of the other micro aggressions put into place on this marginalized

In exploring the problem of identity in Black literature we find no simple or definite explanation. Nevertheless, it is generally accepted that it is rooted in the reality of the discriminatory social system in America with its historic origins in the institution of slavery. One can discern that this slavery system imposes a double burden on the Negro through severe social and economic inequalities and through the heavy psychological consequences suffered by the Negro who is forced to play an inferior role, 1 the latter relates to the low self-estimate, feeling of helplessness and basic identity conflict. Thus, in some form or the other, every Negro American is confronted with the