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Conceptual understandings essay on identity
An essay on identity
An essay on identity
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Identity, from Latin identitas (“sameness”), can be defined and understood in multiple ways in different contexts. However, regardless of the definition used, the general concept of identity always concerns a relation or relative state between things or people. This holds true in different contexts where the term “identity” is used as well: mathematics, philosophy, psychology, etc. The existential nature of defining identity may lead to many issues in the perception of oneself and of others as the relative properties of identity are always changing and shifting – an identity crisis. It is this exact property of identity that Rebecca Walker chronicles in her memoir Black, White, and Jewish; and more importantly, her own methods of dealing with and understanding her own identity crisis. It is also this exact property of identity that brings about unique criticisms motivated by the critic’s own perceptions of identity and psychological biases. Though perfectly valid, some of these criticisms tend to highlight the critic’s own biases and preconceptions instead of analyzing the merits and faults of Walker’s work.
Throughout Walker’s memoir, she writes of her experiences growing up in different worlds and her ability to assimilate into the culture of her surroundings. These episodic recollections of events paint a varied and sometimes disjointed picture of Walker in the mind of the reader precisely due to Walker’s shifting identity. Though arguably a necessary survival tactic, Walker all but brags of her chameleon-like abilities as a multiethnic female. Although criticisms exist regarding this, Walker’s memoir should be read and considered in its entirety in order to fully understand the implications of her experiences on her own notio...
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...xactly what she says she will: an autobiography of a shifting self.
Not all criticisms are wholly negative of Walker, however. In a review on Examiner.com, Sarah Phillips mentions that Walker’s failure to narrow the distance between herself and readers instead forces the reader to remember that her experiences are her own. Phillips also accurately addresses the concerns of many minorities regarding Walker in that throughout the memoir, there is no acknowledgement of a “collective voice” (Phillips 2010). This criticism mirrors Joseph’s analysis, bur does not castigate Walker for her inaction in the Civil Rights Movement, despite being a multiethnic female with much at stake. Phillips ends her review with a precaution to potential readers that much of the work may be lost to the reader unless he or she is aware of the contributions of author’s mother, Alice Walker.
Personal identity, in the context of philosophy, does not attempt to address clichéd, qualitative questions of what makes us us. Instead, personal identity refers to numerical identity or sameness over time. For example, identical twins appear to be exactly alike, but their qualitative likeness in appearance does not make them the same person; each twin, instead, has one and only one identity – a numerical identity. As such, philosophers studying personal identity focus on questions of what has to persist for an individual to keep his or her numerical identity over time and of what the pronoun “I” refers to when an individual uses it. Over the years, theories of personal identity have been established to answer these very questions, but the
No matter where one is from or where one finds themselves today, we carry with us in some way or another a specific heritage. Certain events and circumstances can lead to someone trying to forget their heritage or doing everything in their power to preserve that heritage. Alice Walker’s “EveryDay Use” was published in 1973, not long after the civil rights movement, and reflects the struggles of dealing with a heritage that one might not want to remember (Shmoop). Alice Walker is well known as a civil rights and women’s rights activist. Like many of her other works she uses “Everyday Use” to express her feelings on a subject; in this case African American heritage. Through “Everyday Use” it can be seen that Alice Walker has negative feelings about how many African Americans were trying to remove themselves from parts of their African American culture during the time of the short story’s publishment. This idea that Walker was opposed to this “deracinating” of African Americans coming out of the civil rights
Although the concept of identity is recurrent in our daily lives, it has interpreted in various ways.
Identity is a group of characteristics, data or information that belongs exactly to one person or a group of people and that make it possible to establish differences between them. The consciousness that people have about themselves is part of their identity as well as what makes them unique. According to psychologists, identity is a consistent definition of one’s self as a unique individual, in terms of role, attitudes, beliefs and aspirations. Identity tries to define who people are, what they are, where they go or what they want to be or to do. Identity could depend on self-knowledge, self-esteem, or the ability of individuals to achieve their goals. Through self-analysis people can define who they are and who the people around them are. The most interesting point about identity is that some people know what they want and who they are, while it takes forever for others to figure out the factors mentioned before. Many of the individuals analyzed in this essay are confused about the different possible roles or positions they can adopt, and that’s exactly the reason they look for some professional help.
Identity is 'how you view yourself and your life.'; (p. 12 Knots in a String.) Your identity helps you determine where you think you fit in, in your life. It is 'a rich complexity of images, ideas and associations.';(p. 12 Knots in a String.) It is given that as we go through our lives and encounter different experiences our identity of yourselves and where we belong may change. As this happens we may gain or relinquish new values and from this identity and image our influenced. 'A bad self-image and low self-esteem may form part of identity?but often the cause is not a loss of identity itself so much as a loss of belonging.'; Social psychologists suggest that identity is closely related to our culture. Native people today have been faced with this challenge against their identity as they are increasingly faced with a non-native society. I will prove that the play The Rez Sisters showed this loss of identity and loss of belonging. When a native person leaves the reservation to go and start a new life in a city they are forced to adapt to a lifestyle they are not accustomed to. They do not feel as though they fit in or belong to any particular culture. They are faced with extreme racism and stereotypes from other people in the nonreservational society.
Identity is one of the main questions throughout all of our readings, because it is hard for people to accept who they are in society. Accepting their identity as a minority with little if any freedoms sparks many of the social problems which I will show happening in all communities and cultures. The main issue we will discuss is how social environments effect the search for identity. The Mexicans in the U.S. module gives us examples how Mexicans try to keep their customs while living in a discriminated environment by the Whites. This module also gives us examples how people are searching for personal identity while struggling with cultural traditions. Finally, the African-American module gives us more examples to compare with the Mexicans in the U.S. module, because these readings deal with Blacks finding personal identity also through discrimination from the Whites. To properly understand the theme of identity, we must first look the factors influencing it.
Such an encounter becomes a source of discomfort and momentarily a crisis of racial meaning. Without a racial identity, one is in danger of having no identity" (Michael Omi, Howard Winant, 12). It is obvious when we look at someone we try to get a sense of who they are. We categorize people within our society and place them by gender, ethnicity, race, religion, and even social class. Because one of the first things we utilize is race and gender it is questioned that without racial identity one is in danger of having no identity. Personally, I believe that this is true, for instance, within our society gender roles are very apparent. We utilize gender as a form of identity, because many people now are coming forward with wanting to change their identity there has been ann uproar to try to fight against equality for citizens that identify with a different gender. What is to be considered is the same uproar that is occurring with people who identify with a gender is also occurring with citizens that are identified solely on race. Within our different generations there has been an uprising in mixed races, a person can be
Critical Essays on Alice Walker. Ed. By Ikenna Dieke. Greenwood Press, Westpoint, Connecticut, London, 1999
“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...
The women of the late sixties, although some are older than others, in Alice Walker’s fiction that exhibit the qualities of the developing, emergent model are greatly influenced through the era of the Civil Rights Movement. Motherhood is a major theme in modern women’s literature, which examines as a sacred, powerful, and spiritual component of the woman’s life. Alice Walker does not choose Southern black women to be her major protagonists only because she is one, but because she had discovered in the tradition and history they collectively experience an understanding of oppression that has been drawn from them a willingness to reject the principle and to hold what is difficult. Walker’s most developed character, Meridian, is a person who allows “an idea no matter where it came from to penetrate her life.” Meridian’s life is rooted under the curiosity of what is the morally right thing to do, at the right time and place. Meridian pursues a greatness amount of power, which is based upon her individualistic and personal view of herself as a mother. She looks for answers from her family, especially the heritage by her maternal ancestors, and seeks her identity through traditions passed on to her by Southern black women. In exploring the primacy of motherhood, African-American writer Alice Walker’s novel, Meridian, shifted the angle of seeing from the female perspective how the certain experiences affect their interpretations of motherhood.
Alice Walker’s writings were greatly influenced by the political and societal happenings around her during the 1960s and 1970s. She not only wrote about events that were taking place, she participated in them as well. Her devoted time and energy into society is very evident in her works. The Color Purple, one of Walker’s most prized novels, sends out a social message that concerns women’s struggle for freedom in a society where they are viewed as inferior to men. The events that happened during and previous to her writing of The Color Purple had a tremendous impact on the standpoint of the novel.
Born on February 9, 1994, Alice Walker has become an intricate part of literature and notable for her depictions on African American and feministic cultural issues. She is most notable for her novel “The Color Purple, [which] was awarded the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award in 1983” (Whitted) and she “was inducted into the Georgia Writers Hall of Fame in 2001” (Whitted). Walker’s career as a poet and novelist began “during the latter years of the Black Arts Movement” (Whitted) and she tends to delve into the “multidimensional kinships among women and embraces the redemptive power of social and political revolution” (Whitted).
Much of the book relevance was with the civil rights movement, which then created a great significance to women’s struggle and women’s rights. In today’s world we see the fact that we learn much understanding of marriages. Oprah Winfrey has also brought The Color Purple to Broadway with a musical and a great performance through one of the close and known character or role player. It has also become a hit Hollywood movie, which is recommended to see reality, played upon the screens. Further more, we see that Alice walker has made it and life changing journey for each one of us no matter what color? What race what background and what cultures? I have learned much from the novel and now know the fact that speaking up in a crowd or for your right will never be wrong no matter whom the person is….
It is not until Celie is an adult that she finally feels content with her life and understands her capacity to be a completely autonomous woman. The concept of racial and gender equality has expanded greatly throughout the twentieth century, both in society and in literature. These changes influence Walker's writing, allowing her to create a novel that chronicles the development of a discriminated black woman. Her main character, Celie, progresses from oppression to self-sufficiency, thereby symbolizing the racial and gender advancements our country has achieved.
In this Alice Walker story, the reader meets a girl named Celie. In this novel, Walker takes the reader on a journey through much of Celie’s life. While taking the reader through this tale, Walker draws attention to a number of social aspects during this time period. Through Cilie’s life, Walker brings to light the abuse and mistreatment of African American women from 1910 through the 1940’s. “Women were also regarded as less important than men – both Black and white Black women double disadvantage.