One’s own identity is derived not by circumstances, but rather by his or her experiences, moral values, as well as motivation. Especially in today’s media, people love to read or watch about impossible stories of rags-to-riches, and they try to incorporate those stories’ motivational plots into their quest to become successful. I concur with Thomas Merton in that I believe “identity is much more than the name or features one is born with. True identity is something people must create for themselves.” One’s origin does not fully account for one’s identity, but it is shaped rather by actions and perception of self. Ideals from “People Inside Me”, “Cut”, and “Commencement Speech at Mount Holyoke College” all influence my point of view regarding…
Throughout the novel of ‘The running man’ the theme ‘things are not always what they seem’ is a consistent idea in the text. Michael Gerard Bauer’s narrative is a story of the value of perception as characters are constantly being mis-judged. Like Mrs. Mossop, josephs ‘nosey’ neighbour, the ‘dangerous, sick man’ known as Tom Layton and The Running Man who is described as the ‘stuff from nightmares’.…
From growing up in gangs, to suffering withdrawals from his drug addictions, as well as being in and out of jail, he made it his life’s mission to turn his life around for not only his children, but for himself. “There are choices you have to make not just once, but every time they come up”, as quoted in Always Running. Luis is a depiction of proof that it is possible for anyone to turn their life around, but you cannot just dream of it, you have to have the courage and determination to continually work for it. For the past forty years, Luis has been an influential gang intervention and prevention leader in both Los Angeles and Chicago. Recently, in 2012, he partook on the Transnational Advisory Group in Support of the Peace Process in El Salvador to bravely approach, offer his recommendations to assist a “gang-led peace 2012 gang-led peace truce between MS-13 and 18th Street leaders that had international ramifications” (http://www.luisjrodriguez.com/history). Today, Luis is named the 2014 Los Angeles Poet Laureate and of course, he will leave a legacy as a major figure in contemporary Chicano literature. He has written a total of fifteen books “and was ranked number 63 on the American Library Associations’ "Top 100 Banned/Challenged Books: 2000-2009" list” (http://ballotpedia.org/Luis_Rodriguez). His writings have appeared in the Los Angeles and New York Times, Poets and Writers, and the Huffington Post just to name a few. His best-selling book Always Running has sold approximately half a million copies by 2014 and has benefitted his life in more ways than one; for starters, it helped him turn away from his drinking habits. Although Always Running was written in desperation to direct his son onto the right path, Luis realized that this was the book that eventually saved his own life. The position Luis grew up in and the…
Furthermore, the story Always Running descriptively shows that Luis learns that everyone at a point becomes vulnerable. Luis’s brother, Rano, is a tough nine-year-old and Luis follows his…
Looking for Alibrandi is a film that conveys the meaning of identity through the use of a variety of film techniques illustrated by the composers. The Outsiders, a novel by S.E. Hinton also has the meaning of identity hidden away somewhere between its pages, as does the poem The Road Not Taken but between its four stanzas. Poetic and language techniques give us a better idea of the meaning of identity.…
Growing up isn’t always easy and for Augusten Burroughs, childhood was the biggest struggle throughout his rocky and complicated life. Being raised by psychotic mother and alcoholic father made Augusten a non-gregarious and introverted person. In the New York Times best-selling memoir, ‘Running with Scissors’, Augusten Burroughs reveals his deranged adolescence. Augusten had a lot of hard times that made him struggle through his child and teen years but through it all he soon realizes that your family doesn’t define you and also you shouldn’t judge someone by what you see on the outside.…
An individual has no direct influence with the creation of his or her identity, however, identity is a factor of life that is constantly being added onto by the means of the environment, society, and life experiences. In the readings, “Why Is Everyone Focused on Zuckerberg’s Hoodie?” by Somini Sengupta, Alice Walker’s “Oppressed Hair Puts a Ceiling on the Brain” and “What Goes Through Your Mind: On Nice Parties and Casual Racism” by Nicole Chung ; society, personal barriers, and race had apparent effects on each respective author’s views on identity. Identity is not an exact formula, it is instead a constant battle between oneself and the outside world.…
I love to run. And I hope you will like it as much as me. Because you can stay fit and have fun. You can even race your friends. And this story is about why I like to run and how it can help you and me to stay fit.And you can even run to get away from things you don't think is safe or if a person chasing you.…
When we are born, we are like a blank canevas. Growing up, this canevas becomes more and more colorful, taking from the upcoming experiences, and erasing what does not fit in. What if to truly complete the masterpiece of art, living life and travelling as far as into the wild is necessary? What if after all this you are finally at peace with yourself? In the book Into The Wild, Jon Krakauer demonstrates how Chris McCandless was an outsider of society who after accumulating bits of his identity, finds a place where he can be all of himself.…
It is easy to see oneself as the same person we were ten, twenty, or fifty years ago. We can define identity through our physical presence, life experiences, memories, and mental awareness of self. One can testify our persistence as a person through our existence as a person. But what makes us the same person? In this paper, I will argue for the “simple” view of the persistence of identity – that it is impossible to determine what single thing that makes us the same person over time. I will support my claim with the refutation of the main complex view claims of the body, brain and psychological continuity criterion.…
Identity and personality are what makes each individual unique. Everyone has experimented different life periods which come with different life experience. Self-identity develops who we are and how we are shaped into the person we are today. In my 16 years I have learned life lessons that come from past experience and that have influence on me in many different ways.…
There is an unfortunate reality in that there are millions of people around the world who are willing to do almost anything, even lose themselves, just so they can be accepted and become part of the crowd. To keep things in perspective, wanting to be accepted, wanting to fit in is not exactly a bad thing. In fact, it’s basic human nature for survival and social growth, and it starts at a very young age. During our developmental years, we feel the need to be accepted or be worthy of acceptance. This can’t be met when you are isolated, other people have to be involved if these needs are to be met.…
One of the most uncertain things that all humans face is their real identity. This difficulty has caused a lot of confusion on who we really are and how we become our own person. There are many different theories to how people can identify themselves, but one of the leading notions is the Identity Theory. This theory claims that people become who they are based on experiences and life lessons. They believe that one’s own experiences will cause them to shape how they will identify themselves. Following that theory, it is reasonable to assume that all experiences whether positive or negative will have a direct impact on your identity. However, some psychologists believe that negative memories or experiences will cause a much significant change…
Growing up with divorced parents from two radically different cultures was at first difficult. My mother’s family was from Peru, while my father’s was from Bangladesh. In my young mind, there was an internal struggle with what my identity actually consisted of. I wasn’t wholly from one culture or the other, and felt like a black sheep when interacting with either side of my family. Due to this, I attempted to keep these cultures partitioned. At the time, they were different portions of my life that simply couldn’t intermix. This mentality in turn led me to foolishly shy away from my joint heritage. I kept myself enclosed in a box, blind to the beauty of my surrounding culture. However, as time progressed, I knew I had to make a change in my understanding.…
Following early psychologists study, such as Freud’s three-level model of self-structure( ), ego psychology(Harmann, 1958), and self psychology (Kohut, 1907), Erik Erikson(1950;1968) developed the concept and theory of personal identity by linking individual biological changes and the sociocultural environment, thereby rejecting both absolutism of psychosexual development and the omnipotence of socialization(Janos L,2014). The identity concept adopted by cognitive social psychology focuses on self-knowledge and conceptual reflection, and in social science, personal identity is ofen opposed to social identity.…