The concept of identity is a very wide and subjective area. Identities can both be chosen and

The concept of Identity is complex through the exploration of relationships and a sense of belonging. This is explored within Tim Winton’s short stories, ‘ Neighbours’ and ‘Big World’, and in Robert Walker’s poem ‘Okay, Let’s be Honest’. Identity can change and evolve depending on belief, change, language and shifting influences.

What identity means to me is how a person or thing describes itself or is described. A person’s identity is based on their personality and who they are as a person. If a person is kind to other people and helps others this shows the person is caring so one of the person’s identity is that he/she is caring. People might identify themselves by saying that their compassionate, courageous, easygoing, determined, sensitive or even that their independent . Three words that identify me are that I am venturesome, ambitious, and athletic.

No matter how much a person desires to live according to their personal autonomy, he or she will never escape the influence of societal forces. Explicitly or subtlety, these forces shape our individuality. One intriguing manner that these societal forces manifests itself in is our name. As Ruth Graham writes, “It’s becoming increasingly clear today that names carry a wealth of information about the world around us, the family we arrived in, the moment we were born—and that they mark us as part of cultural currents bigger than we realize.” Names alone provide evidence that individuals are made by interactions with social institutions and groups. Ultimately, the inescapable nature of society’s influence demands individuals to ponder how much personal autonomy is actually autonomous and to what extent does the pursuit of personal autonomy lead to a life of emptiness and vanity.

In the book City of Glass, by Paul Auster, identity is used to develop and establish existence in society. The author shows the challenges of identity by showing Daniel Quinn struggling to develop his own identity. The struggle of identity is carried through the text as Quinn bounces from one persona to the next. Nicola Caleffi’s article called Paul Auster’s Urban Nothingness supports the idea that Daniel Quinn’s character struggles finding his identity, as he takes on many different identities as his surroundings change. Identity is constantly changing as a result of its surroundings making it hard to remain stable and avoid deteriation.

Personal identity is a very controversial aspect of life. Who are we? What defines us? According to John Locke, psychological continuity is what defines our personal identity. Locke discusses the case of the prince and the cobbler to help shape his theory. However, I absolutely disagree with Locke’s theory. Locke’s theory of personal identity creates many problems, such as the duplication problem. By reformulating Locke’s theory of personal identity, we still come across these problems that prove Locke’s theory false.

The world has become modern and global. Identification of the self is a complicated, though, an important problem of every individual. Self- identity is based on inner values and reflections on culture, politics and social interactions. The main point is that people label themselves to any particular group in the society (Worchel etc., 1998). According to Ferguson: “Identity commonly refers to which it makes, or is thought to make

Throughout history, identity is often viewed as a something inherently stable. However, I argue that identity should be viewed as something far more complicated than this – particularly if one articulates the modern notion of a fluid conception of identity. Identity is something that is constantly in flux. Then, identity is constructed of the vastly diverse geographies, histories, and the spaces and places that one inhabits throughout their life. To put it simply, identity defines who we are. Therefore, it is inextricably bound to notions of difference , where representations of people can change depending on the

Examine the argument that Identities of place can be a Source of Inclusion and Exclusion.

Lately my mornings are spent getting up between 5:30am and 6am. I get myself ready, I never look fantastic just passable, and I go to work. Part of my morning routine is getting my dog, Donovan, ready for the early part of his day as well. We go to the yard for his bathroom routine, we go inside where I feed him his diet dog food and inject him with insulin, we go upstairs where I place a new diaper wrap around his mid-section (dogs with diabetes leak, who knew?), and he goes back to bed to sleep beside my husband. After we say our goodbyes I head to work, or school, or whatever adventure life has for me that particular day. Rinse, wash, repeat. I had no idea when I was in my teenage years that my life at 32 years old would be a tattooed, married, full time working, full time schooling, boring, Puerto Rican, animal lover. Well, the animal loving part I knew since I was maybe 2.

“the identity or feeling of belonging to, as part of the self-conception and self-perception to nationality, ethnicity, religion, social class, generation, locality and any kind of social group that have its own distinct culture,”. (1)

In alignment with one of the key points from the previous section, which denies the integral and unified account of identity, this section elaborates the discursive view of identity. In order to understand this shift in conceptualising identity, we will revisit the simple definition of identity from Longman dictionary (section 9.1.1). The later part of this definition, specifically, the second key phrase “different from other people” brings about the discussion of the discursive approach to identity. Departing from the essentialist viewpoint of identity as a stable core of self, later literatures have advocated a close relation between the processes of intersubjectivity and the crucial role of ‘the others’ in identity construction (Hall, 2000). As a nature of human beings, the process of identification is seen as a universal need to belong to a group, to reflect on others, thus define themselves and others. In other words, it is to say that identity is constructed through ‘difference’ and experienced by contrast (Benveniste, 2000). Specifically, “[i]n common sense language, identification is constructed on the back of recognition of some common origin or shared characteristics with another person or group, or with an ideal, and with the natural closure of solidarity and allegiance established on this foundation” (Hall, 2000:16). The common origin or shared characteristics here do not adhere to the essentialist viewpoint of identity as an identical and unchangeable stage of

“We are not born knowing who we are or what our place is in the social landscape; we learn to be American or Japanese, male or female, husband or wife, or Amy, Richard, Micheal, Rachel, or Rebecca.” Our identities are constructed by this “social landscape”. The social construction of identity takes place by living life through first hand experiences and through certain social circumstances. Amartya Sen says,” Classification is certainely cheap, but identity is not. More interestingly, whether a particular classification can plausibly generate a sense of identity or not must depend on the social circumstances.” Identity is a complex matter but can be defined in simple terms. It is who you are. Your personality, the way you act in response to

Personal identity is essential in the human experience. Identity is complex and can be broken down into two main groups: introspective identity, and bodily identity. Introspective identity is based off of the groups, mentalities, or beliefs that you align yourself with, and bodily identity is based off of the physical side of yourself. Whether physical or introspective, your identity impacts every action you take. Whether choices ranging from what colors you prefer to which college you want to attend are primarily based off of your introspective identity, which is a combination of both memory and consciousness, physical identity impacts how others perceive you. Consciousness is mainly the awareness of bodily identity as well as continuous introspective identify, while memory is awareness of introspective identity. These two different facets of identity are imperative in the distinction between bodily identity and introspective identity. In means of personal identity introspective identity (which is evident in memory), is essential, while bodily identity (based partially in consciousness) has less credit.

Scholars no longer believe identity as an organic coherent phenomenon; rather, they are discursive constructions taking form within rich material, economic, and social contexts, and are multi-layered, fluid, and oft-changing, and sometimes contradictory, largely dependent on where and in relation to whom they are constituted.

Many people question themselves, what is it exactly that makes them unique? What is it that defines them as a unique person that no one in the world possesses? In philosophy, these questions do not have just one answer, and all answers are correct depending on which theory appeals most and makes sense to you. In general, there are two ways people approach this question, some say that a person’s identity is the “self” that carries all of their experiences, thoughts, memories, and consciousness (ego theorists), and some say that a person’s identity is just a bundle of experiences and events that a person has been through in their life, these people deny that the “self” exists (bundle theorists). In this paper, I will be arguing that a person’s identity is just a bundle of experiences, denying the self and the memory criterion.