Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
how does society influence our identity and the choices we make
influence of society on identity
influence of society on identity
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
There is no single criterion that provides a necessary basis for identity, and neither is there a threshold, a critical mass of sufficient conditions. It is possible to assume that because “a” happened to a person, and “b” happened to the same person that he or she is a “c”-type person; however, it’s impossible to make up a definition which covers all that there is about identity. In the novel I am a Martinican Woman by Mayotte Capecia, the reader sees the main character, Mayotte, hopelessly striving to find a static definition of her identity. Mayotte has a need to feel anchored in something that she can define herself as, yet at the very same time, she feels torn between who she is and what she needs in life. These contrasting feelings only lead to the exaggeration of Mayotte’s emotions through her thoughts and actions, and her lack of identity becomes magnified to the reader. By analyzing the theme of racial identity and the strong presence of patriarchal structures within the Martinican society, one is able to see the difficulty in Mayotte finding a separate identity for herself.
Throughout the novel, Mayotte denigrates blacks, when, in fact, she is partially black. At the very beginning of the novel she depersonalizes herself from the “groups of young black girls” that carry baskets filled with food on their heads (Capecia, 34). Mayotte observes them and their graceful manner, but in no way associates herself with them, and even ventures to describe the crude details of how the girls stopped “to [meet] a need right there on the path; after which, she would simply wipe herself with her skirt and go on her way”(Capecia, 34). After her mother tells Mayotte the story about her grandmother, she expresses how proud she is that she had a white grandmother, yet she ventures to ask “How could a Canadian woman have loved a Martinican?”(Capecia, 63). She is amazed, it seems, that a white woman would stoop to marry a black man. Mayotte specifically states that a “grandmother was less commonplace than a white grandfather”(Capecia, 62).Here, it is evident, that Mayotte sees blacks as inferior. But at the same time, she is partially black. Many critics see this as an expression of the “lactification complex,”or the mind frame of idolizing whites as well as a desire to be white, that silently existed within not only Martinican society, but also throughout the Caribbean (CLA, 260).
What does rhetoric have to do with capital punishment? Plenty actually if you want to advance an argument as well as Edward I. Koch has in his compelling essay in support of the death penalty. Koch is introduced by the editors of the book containing his essay as “The feisty, opinionated mayor of New York City…” (handout). The editors continue describing Koch’s character and abilities as they point out that he is politician with a law degree and experience as a lawyer. More specifically that he was a leader for the Democratic Party and then a congressman (handout). Koch was still mayor of New York City in 1985 when he wrote “Death and Justice”. “[The] essay, was first published in the New Republic…” (handout) a liberal American magazine. The readers of the New Republic are primarily democrats and can therefore be assumed in general to be against capital punishment. This situation has Koch in the precarious position of arguing his point contrary to the consensus of his constituents. In spite of this daunting scenario Koch is compelled to produce his essay because he wants to make in clear to his constituents that, even in light of the recently publicized statements by convicted killers that capital punishment is wrong, he [Koch] still supports the death penalty. Koch has opened his introduction with specific and graphic testimony about the statements made by the killers Messrs. Willie and Shaw. I believe that Koch has done a good job of advancing his argument through the use of the modes of persuasion which I will now demonstrate by analyzing his use of ethos, logos and pathos in his writing.
Capital Punishment is a highly controversial topic. It’s not about an eye for an eye or life for a life. It’s about a person with dangerous unlawful activities that deserves to be penalize, and Edward Irving Koch conceives it as well. Edward Irving Koch was a prominent and highly assertive mayor of New York City from 1978 to 1989. Koch practiced law for nineteen years, and that took him to get elected as a district leader; than city councilman, US House of Representative, and then he ran for the mayor of New York City, which comprehends more stressful constituents (handout). Koch wrote an article on the subject of capital punishment, “Death and Justice.” It was published in The New Republic magazine on April 1985. As far as Koch believes it, capital punishment is the only way to save innocent lives when he states, “Life is indeed precious, and I believe the death penalty helps to affirm this fact” (320). Koch is making this statement by exemplifying the value of human life, and what he accepts as true punishment for all those ruthless criminals. The audience of his article were typically skeptic because people can be oppose to it, because they think it’s immoral and government should not be given any rights to dictate human lives. Although people might be oppose to capital punishment, yet Edward Koch makes it sure to dispute oppositional arguments about capital punishment by use of modes of persuasion such as Ethos, Pathos and logos.
The lack of nationalism also proved to be a conflict for the people of Burma or Myanmar. The militaristic government’s philosophy of ruling isolated left people to live in absolute poverty and is a major human rights concern.
Race, gender and sexuality have complex intersections; race decides how gender, sexual orientation and other aspects of identification are experienced, developed and practiced. Identity can be understood as a fragmentary sense of self that undergoes constant change. In Zami: A New Spelling of My Name, Trace Elements of Random Tea Parties and The Rain God, the main characters forge plural identities by becoming aware of their ethnic and cultural heritages while discovering personally relevant sexual orientation labels, then reaching out and connecting to that specific community in some way. Instead of identifying a ‘true’ lesbian, Chicano or African-American identity, this paper will explore a process of self-definition that is multifaceted and challenges a monolithic form of identity, creating a hybrid sense of self with the possibility to access different spheres that provides the characters in these texts with new perspectives. Audre Lorde, Miguel Chico and Leticia Marisol Estrella Torez exist in a space that is in-between two worlds, but by integrating elements of their cultures and adapting them to their individual present circumstances, they are able to disrupt rigid sexual and racial categories and enable the formation of polymorphous identities which are subject to constant change.
The public demand for alcohol led to a soaring business for bootleggers. When prohibition began, people immediately wanted a way to drink. Therefore, the profitable bootlegging business was born. Before Prohibition gangs existed, but had little influence. Now, they had gained tremendous power almost overnight. Bootlegging was easy; some gangs even paid hundreds of poor immigrants to maintain stills in their apartments. Common citizens, once law abiding, now became criminals by making their own alcohol. However, this forced risks for those who made their own. The less fortunate Americans consumed homemade alcoholic beverages that were sometimes made with wood alcohol. In return, many died due to alcohol poisoning.
Stanton, Gregory H. "Genocides and Conflicts." World Without Genocide. World Without Genocide, 7 May 2013. Web. 14 Apr. 2014. .
The history of New Zealand begins between 800 A.D. and 1300 A.D., when the Māori people arrived from Polynesia to the mountainous island they called “Aotearoa.” The people “lived in tribal groups” fairly peacefully (Wilson). However, life began to change for the Māori people when they first came into contact with a European in 1642, when Dutch explorer Abel Tasman “discovered” the island. In 1769, “[James] Cook successfully circumnavigated and mapped the country” (History). These explorations marked the beginning of Europeanization for the young country of New Zealand. Whalers and traders soon arrived, and missionaries arrived in 1814. When the Māori met with Europeans, events followed a similar path to the colonization of America and the decimation of the native populations-- “contribution of guns…, along with European diseases, led to a steep decline in the [population of] Māori people.” (History). Consequentially, “their chieftains entered into a compact with Britain, the Treaty of Waitangi, in which they ceded sovereignty to Queen Victoria while retaining territorial rights,” in...
In Stuart Hall’s “Ethnicity: Identity and Difference,” he claims that identity is a volatile social process through which one comes to see the self. Hall argues that identity is not a thing rather a process “…that happens over time, that is never absolutely stable, that is subject to the play of history, and the play of difference.” These factors are constantly entering the individual in a never-ending cycle, re-establishing and affirming who one is.
Authors are frequently categorized in some ways by the particular era they are writing in. This often gives a sense of what message the speaker is trying to relay, and the context in which the author is writing. Addressing the issue of self identity through this context allows a
"New Zealand Culture - Maori." New Zealand Travel and New Zealand Business. Tourism New Zealand, 2011. Web. 23 Apr. 2012. .
The view of identity seems to be defined by facial features and social constructed views. Depending on the recent look of someone it may just be more then just color but also background. In this essay I will explain how I relate to some recent views based on philosophers I may agree and disagree with in order to describe my identity. Identity is much more then just being labeled as a race, it can be based on much more.
In the modern society, the concept of identity is gaining much attention from both scientists and the wide public. The idea of identity is connected with the issues of identification and determining one's role in the society. However, the problem with the identity concerns the idea that it is perceived through numerous external factors that tend to determine the social status of a person and his or her belonging to a certain group. With regard to this, very often the identity of every particular person tends to be misinterpreted and perceived incorrectly. The incorrect interpretation of a person's identity usually comes as a result of cultural differences. The aspects that define the person’s identity usually include the labels that tend to be imposed on people due to their world-view, the language they are speaking, the racial belonging, or even the clothes they are wearing.
Pugh, C.L. (2013) 'Is Citizenship the Answer? Constructions of belonging and exclusion for the stateless Rohingya of Burma.', p. 3.
In Buddhism’s most basic principles, it is understood that all beings have a right to live, life should respected and people should refrain from taking all life. Yet, currently in the country of Myanmar, extreme Buddhist monks are preaching religious superiority and leading a genocide on Myanmar’s minority religious people, especially Muslims, down to the women and children. To make matters worse Myanmar’s governing officials (exclusively Buddhist) have passed laws that assist in the persecution of minorities. There are some local reports that government authorities are tracking down and arresting religious minorities without reason. Then those who are arrested haven’t been seen or heard from since. With the known death toll of Myanmar Muslims and other minority groups increasing and the Myanmar government publicly admitting to “misplacing” huge numbers of people who fall into the religious minority, suspicions that the Myanmar government is assisting in this religious genocide have justifiably
The Te Tiriti o Waitangi was a contract that Maori people believe to be an acknowledgement of their existence and their prior occupation to the land, give respect to their language, culture and belief and “it established the regime not for uni-culturalism, but for bi-culturalism” (Sorrenson, 2004 p. 162). This essay discusses the historical events, attitudes and beliefs regarding Te reo Maori, its relationship to the Te Tiriti o Waitangi and the significance of bicultural practice in early childhood education.