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Essay about a journey of self discovery
The nature of identity
How does society influence our identity
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I am nothing to many, and everything to some. I am a failure to a majority, and a success to a minority. Throughout life, many people go about never truly knowing who they are, whether this be spiritually, mentally, or physically. This lack of knowing often originates not from the fact that they do not know what they have done, but from the fact that there are just too many aspects and ways of looking at your life to truly know who you are. While some people may see you as just the events in your life, some may see you as the clothes you wear. If you consider knowing who you are to be the sum of what everyone else sees you as, then by definition it can never be discovered. However, in the end, all that truly matters is who you believe you are, …show more content…
People say that when you are young, you are a sponge, that you take in all of the experiences around you and try to come to terms with what constitutes a healthy life. Upon reflecting on the events in my life, this idea seems more true than ever. When I was born, I was immediately introduced to the idea of sharing, because of the fact that I was, and am, a twin. Later on in my life, when I was four years old, my family and I took a trip to a beach where my parents hid three chests deep in the sand. Upon finding the chests, my brother took the first one, my sister took the second one, and I took the third one, because I was waiting for them to get theirs first. This was most likely due to how I was raised in my early years, and how I had to live my life, because I was constantly having to share or wait my turn. Upon opening the chests, we discovered that the third chest was full of more “treasures” than the other two, which only further cemented the idea that sharing and being kind benefits those who do, because I ended up with more stuff. Now although this event may have made me a better person, and this event did make me who I am, there are also many other events that make me who I
In Sophocles' Oedipus as well as Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, the main character embarks on a journey to self-discovery, ultimately gaining the knowledge of his own flaws. Yet the differences in their failings cause the two characters to have very different endings. After Oedipus learns of his true identity, he realizes that he has cursed himself with his arrogance and pride, and the play ends tragically. Sir Gawain, on the other hand, has good reason for his mistakes as he simply fears for his own life and his story ends on a lighter note. While self-discovery can humble a character, the nature of his flaws ultimately determine his end.
defined as a person X has a personal identity if and only if they have the same
The search for one’s true identity is a difficult journey. One must track their ancestors, research their heritage, and correctly synthesize all of their gathered information into that specific identity. This journey is especially hard for African Americans whose ancestors were stolen from their native land. They have a desire to reconnect with their origins; however, their search is often hindered due to the fact that their ancestors were stolen. In an attempt to reconnect with this lost heritage, many African Americans in the 1960s and 1970s participated in the Black Nationalist Movement where they were able to claim a general African identity. This search for identity is shown in “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker. Through her text, Walker highlights two perspectives on true African American identity: those who understood and accepted their identity as an African American and those who desired to know their African ancestry. This idea is supported through various sources including scholarly journals, critical articles, and educational Internet web pages. In Alice Walker’s short story, “Everyday Use”, Walker uses characterization, themes, and symbolism to show that the differing perspectives for true African American identity caused a disconnection in African American heritage during the 1960s and 1970s.
There are multiple ways an individual can create their own identity. Society can judge a person merely based upon their morals, character, or appearance. When crafting an identity, one of the most important aspects of someone’s personality is their interactions with others. In the short story, The Dead, James Joyce is able to portray the contrast of social interaction between spouses. While the majority of the time Gabriel’s and Gretta’s thoughts are shown through dialogue, their private thoughts show more than what is actually said. Having the combination of dialogue and thoughts of the characters allow deeper understandings of conversations.
In the past, individual’s identities were often assigned to them by the hegemonic culture, largely based on their conceptualization of sameness. The hegemonic culture dominated identity discourse by drawing distinct boundaries between racial and cultural groups, separating and defining them. Modern discourse however, has seen individuals taking the power of assigning identity signifiers for themselves often in periods of great social change. While times of resistance are often the most easily recalled examples of this, subtle trends in society a tremendous impact, often without the conscience knowledge of the society. In the past two decades, Western Culture has been witness to a radical transformation in identification processes. Technology has become increasingly pivotal to popular culture, and as such, it has had a profound influence on the way we create and affirm our sense-of-self. Identification categories have become less rigid compared to thirty years ago, and people are on average more open to identifying across boundaries. The process of blurring identity lines between distinct groups has re-distributed the power of assigning signifiers from the hegemonic element of popular culture to the individual. Means of instant information distribution and exchange, discourse and academic retrieval, such as instant messengers, social networking sites, Wikipedia, et al are perhaps some of the most influential because of their instantaneousness. While the lines have become blurred on a social level, individual identities are often affirmed.
The doctrine of self identity is one that has throughout history been a way for people to identify who they were in relation to other individuals and society as a whole. To take into account how an individual’s identity is shaped, it is imperative to know it through the context of oneself and of society. This will not only provide a more holistic approach to understanding how self identity is shaped, but also how it relates to race. Nikki Giovanni’s poem “Nikki-Rosa” and Zora Neale Hurston’s “How It Feels to Be Colored Me,” reflect on the idea of racial self identity through harsh critiques from societal and internal pressures seeking to label and categorize people on the basis of race.
Identity, an ambiguous idea, plays an important part in today’s world. To me identity can be defined as who a person is or what differentiates one person from another. Identity would be a person’s name, age, height, ethnicity, personality, and more. A quote by Anne Sexton states “It doesn't matter who my father was; it matters who I remember he was”(Anne Sexton). This quote helps me define identity because I believe it is saying that identity is what people are remembered by. When some people think of identity, words such as, uniqueness, distinctiveness, or individuality may come to mind. However, I disagree with this because when I think of identity I think of mimicry, self-consciousness, or opinions.
“Who am I” is a question that most teens find themselves asking at some point during their adolescence. A person’s identity is not made up of just one thing it includes their religion, ethnicity, occupation, physicality, gender, and sexuality. Understanding one’s identity means to fully understand all of these completely different aspects of one self. In The Well of Loneliness by Radclyffe Hall, Stephen Gordon struggles with understanding her identity and her inversion. Her physical appearance clearly has an extremely strong effect on the way she views herself. “A Curious Double Insight: ‘The Well of Loneliness’ and Native American Alternative Gender Traditions” by Tara Prince-Hughes explains that identifying as a lesbian and an invert means two completely different things. Through Native American traditions Hughes explains that Stephen’s definition of her identity resembles their two-spirit emphasis on gender rather than the lesbian emphasis on sexual desire. The article “Hall of Mirrors: Radclyffe Hall's ‘The Well of Loneliness’ and Modernist Fictions of Identity” by Laura Green discusses the struggles that Stephen faced with her inversion and how it reflected on her identity throughout the book.
As I’m sitting here typing this, I thought this assignment would be easy but it’s not. How do you explain who you are in a paper? Where do I begin? Well, for starters, my personality, ambitions, and what I love doing should be the best standard for defining my character. One should never be anxious if they do not know everything about themselves, as we are constantly learning and discovering new features of ourselves. Personally, I am satisfied knowing my friends are worth it and consider me an asset. I’m the shortest one in my group of friends which puts me somewhat the end of the ladder. Someone might judge me just because of the way I look or act but, if they could just get to know me even more and see my personality they can see me in a whole new way.
Developing a sense of self is an essential part of every individual in which each person's self-conception is a unique combination of multiple identifications, composed of gender, race, class and language. Although self-identity is a part of every individual, it is often lost when individuals migrate to another country. Hispanic women migrating to the Borderlands of the United States and Mexico experience a number of events, it begins with a sense of stigmatization, that arises from their race, culture, tradition and language, which differ from that of the pre-dominant Anglo-Saxon. This rejection impacts their identity, creating a sense of loss, dislocation, alienation, and isolation. How do these women living in the borderlands battle against
“Pay no mind to what other people say; whatever makes an individual happy is what he or she should do.” This quote comes from my grandmother, who tries her best to teach me about an individual’s personal identity. An individual’s identity represents who he or she truly is; it is something that allows a specific person to stand out from the crowd. During an individual’s life, he or she will come across many obstacles that will shape her or his being and will further shape her or him into someone with particular traits, or an identity. During my life, I grew up with six older siblings who each had voices and opinions quite different than mine. Although I felt different from everyone else, there was always one person who I related to, my grandmother. All throughout the years of growing up and going through changes, I always seemed to be filled with encouraging words of wisdom from my grandmother, and, most importantly, she was very accepting of the paths I had chosen to follow despite the fact that they were different from my family’s paths. Throughout the book The Norton Mix, which is an anthology of different texts, many aspects of identity are explored. The selection that I believe relates to me the most in this book is “Professions for Women” by Virginia Woolf, a 1931 speech about Woolf's work as a writer. Another text that I believe presents many characters with different identity aspects is the novel Hairstyles of the Damned, by Joe Meno; the novel is about a teenage boy searching for his identity. After analyzing both texts and listening attentively to my grandmother’s advice, I have concluded that everyone needs to understand that no two identities are alike, and individuals should follow their dreams no matter what...
Zora Neal Hurston’s book, Their Eyes Were Watching God, reveals one of life’s most relevant purposes that stretches across cultures and relates to every aspect of enlightenment. The novel examines the life of the strong-willed Janie Crawford, as she goes down the path of self-discovery by way of her past relationships. Ideas regarding the path of liberation date all the way back to the teachings of Siddhartha. Yet, its concept is still recycled in the twenty-first century, as it inspires all humanity to look beyond the “horizon,” as Janie explains. Self-identification, or self-fulfillment, is a theme that persists throughout the book, remaining a quest for Janie Crawford to discover, from the time she begins to tell the story to her best friend, Pheoby Watson. Hurston makes a point at the beginning of the novel to separate the male and female identities from one another. This is important for the reader to note. The theme for identity, as it relates to Janie, carefully unfolds as the story goes on to expand the depths of the female interior.
Everyone is prejudice in some way or another. From a young age individuals observe, or are taught discrimination against others. Whether it is because of religion, sexuality, race, gender, personality, or just someone’s way of life, everyone is biased. In many ways, who we are today, is influenced by our race, ethnicity, and culture, and overall our individual identities. Every experience, positive or negative, has an impact on how we react to something in the future. Decisions others make, can impact the way we interact with others, our personal beliefs, and all together our life experiences. Along our path of life, we meet people with different goals and circumstances they’ve encountered which make them who they are and why they do certain things a certain way. But our experiences
Identity is one of the most important aspects of life, as it differentiates oneself from the rest of the society by portraying a unique personality. It is important for an individual to have their own personal identity; however it is difficult to preserve it due to the social factors that influence everyday behaviour. Occasionally, society can be involved in a series of conflicts making each individual feels inhibited because of the apprehension of being tried by others. This fear can be the result of all social conventions that impose on the society a ‘barrier’ towards a total freedom.
Knowing what makes up your identity, both physically and emotionally, as well as how much control you have over it, is important to finding your true meaning of life. By distinguishing who you are and what you want to become, you are able to figure out what you can change in order to become happier with who you are. Since the environment you are born in and the one’s you decide to choose weigh so heavily on your entire identity, it is important to find one at which you feel most at home and not a part of the shadows.