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.
I think of words such as those because of a quote I once read stating that “Most people are other people. Their thoughts are someone else’s opinion, their lives a mimicry, their passions a quotation”(Oscar Wilde).When analyzed, it is telling you that when someone has strong feelings for something it could be because he or she heard or read a quotation. For instance, because I read the quote above by Oscar Wilde the words mimicry, self-consciousness, and opinions enter my mind when I thing about identity. It is also telling us that people base their identity on someone else’s opinion. For example, a teenager at school may change his behavior or style of clothing because in one person’s opinion he may not be cool enough. Lastly, it is stating that life is patterned. People tend to do the same thing repeatedly. Maybe because they are afraid of change or because they see so many people doing something it just feels natural for them to do it too. Which leads to the next quote I am going to bring up.
“The best mirror is ...
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...e’s opinion.
Works Cited
Sexton, Anne. "Anne Sexton Quotes Quotable Quote." Goodreads. 2012. Web. 26 Mar. 2012. .
Wilde, Oscar. "Quotes About Identity." (291 Quotes). 2012. Web. 24 Mar. 2012. .
Herbert, George. "Quotation Details." The Quotations Page. 2012. Web. 26 Mar. 2012. .
What Is Culture?" The Center for Advanced Research on Language Acquisition (CARLA) : Maximizing Study Abroad. 22 Dec. 2011. Web. 14 Feb. 2012. .
Dixon, Mark. "Identity Map." 10 Nov. 2005. Web. 24 Mar. 2012. .
Thales. BrainyQuote. Xplore, 2012. Web. 24 Mar. 2012. .
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