ktmeng/mec huggingface dataset:
Topic: identity

As of today, with the brisk increase in intercommunication and international travel, the people of today are experiencing inter-cultural contact that has never been accomplished before. That’s the reason why the research of culture and identity has risen a lot during the past couple of years. One way too view this research has been to observe how newcomers to foreign lands adapt to new cultural surroundings. Similarly, the study of Piri and Kothari when the they move to foreign lands and they have to adapt to the new cultural surroundings. They both divert from their real identity and become someone or something that they are not.
Topic: identity

In “If you are what you eat, then what am I” by Kothari, she is in search for her true identity, but her identity is influenced just because of the type of food she chooses to eat. Kothari illustrates her struggles in true finding her identity. As Kothari mentions “…my mother buys the tuna hoping to satisfy my longing for American food Indians, of course, do not eat such things.” (923) This quote illustrates ethos as she is being influenced from her origin identity into someone or seething else that she is not, and the symbol to her influence is the tuna. This is one of many examples of Kothari being influenced by her surroundings. Indians do not eat such foods due to the religion. Many of them are vegetarians. Kothari explains that she is not from an American culture so her family doesn’t know what tuna looks like or what it is eaten with. If they were American they would have known. Kothari’s choice of food influences who she really is and what she will become, although this doesn’t last very long for Kothari. Her nature, culture, and influence while growing up brings her taste for Indian food and her true identity back. As many people would argue that there is no better feeling than retuning to the source of serenity, in this case returning to her Indian origin and cuisine.
Topic: identity

Foods tend to frequently vary across different cultures and nations, they play a vital part in defining culture as well as identity. Each any every culture regularly observes their day by day foods as ordinary, yet these foods don’t frequently give us knowledge into a specific culture, but its rather how the outsiders view that culture specifically. Cultures can either influence or can be influenced by the foods they eat and the foods they consider to be mast; plus, everyday food can influence how the outside cultures picture that culture. Kotahri’s identity is influenced by the food she eats. When she eats American food, she feels and acts like an American as opposed to when she eats Indian she acts and feels like an Indian women. “A “pinch” means choosing not to draw attention to ourselves as outsiders, impolite visitors who won’t eat what their host serves.” Kothari proves to the reader that her and her sister basically have no choice when it comes to there identities. In order for Kothari to fit in she must eat the hosts food, therefore this slowly causing her to influence her true identity.
Topic: identity

Piri’s identity and culture are influenced by his surroundings, and as well as the people he’s around with. His childhood years were spent in the Spanish Harlem, that’s where his violent perception is garnered from. His constant shift in location did affect his identity in many different instances such as racism and prejudice, the drug deals, the bloody fights all have shaped Piri’s identity. Piri explains to us the environment he is surrounded by as “I sure missed 111th Street, where everybody acted, walked, and talked like me. But on 114th Street everything went all right for a while.” (24) This quote clarifies that Piri’s identity is somewhat already shaped from street 111th. All the trouble and mischief Piri had learned from 111th Street has already swayed to an aggressive and a criminal identity. Piri’s identity can fluctuate very differentially when he is on the streets contributing to unconstitutional actions and very differently when he is at home with his family.
Topic: identity

Hall, a sociologist, a cultural theorist, and political activist in his essay, “Cultural Identity and Diaspora” (1996), argues on how crucial a role the emerging new form of cinema is. Labelled in the Caribbean as “Third Cinemas” play in promoting the Afro-Caribbean cultural identities: the hybridity and difference that comes with the Diaspora. The role of the “Third Cinemas” reflects not only what is already a reality, but produces the representation that continuously establishes the people in third world countries as new subjects against their representation in the Western world.
Topic: identity

This understanding reflects the historical experiences and cultural norms that are shared that make those in the Caribbean as a solidified unit, even through the division and changes in their history. This oneness is what the Black Diaspora must find.  The second point is with all the similarities, there are also differences within the identities (394). Without the focus on what the Caribbean has overcome and created, there is no ease in speaking of the Caribbean identity as a singular experience or identity. There are disconnections that make up the Caribbean distinctive identity.
Topic: identity

In the newly emerging form of cinema in the Caribbean islands, the history of the past, has to apply to the relationship of the present to bring forth a new future and a new cultural identity.  The modern black cinemas, reflect and recognize the different parts and histories of their culture, the one that came before and the current which makes it possible for the construction of the points of identification of Afro-Caribbean cultural identities. Hall’s tone assumes a highly educated audience familiar with theories not only of the history of the people who descend from Africa and identity as Afro-Caribbean, but of the sociological and psychological aspect as well.
Topic: identity

In the beginning of the book Junior was attending high school on the reservation with his best friend Rowdy and other reservation kids, further on in the story Junior transfers to an affluent white high school. In his new school Junior tries to fit in acting as if he is not poor once he has found affections for a girl named Penelope. This is what you consider a fluid cultural identity, where Junior tries fitting in. An example in the story is on halloween, where both Junior and Penelope dress up as homeless people, and Junior jokes that his costume is not too far off from the clothing he usually wears.
Topic: identity

He says this as a joke but truly it was similar to clothes Junior was used to wearing. Overall Junior is following the way of others around him in order to fit in with the crowd. In the story Junior says, “ Poverty doesn’t give you strength or teach you lessons about perseverance. No, poverty only teaches you how to be poor.” Junior was used to being poor and in poverty, meanwhile in school he tried to adapt and be someone different around a new crowd.
Topic: identity

Another fluid cultural based article is the poem “ Let America Be America Again’ by Langston Hughes. Hughes declares the idea of letting America be America again, it should be “great strong land of love”not a land that drove off negro slaves. The idea of this poem is that people changed how the American society was run. Once the idea of individuals not given the proper freedom and being driven off land this same idea was put to use over decades. This poem relates to a fluid based culture because America has become a society where they drive people off there own land and taking away people’s freedom. Hughes whole says “It never was America to me.’ meaning America was or use to be considered a land of freedom and liberty and cultural influences / identities changed the ways of a land.
Topic: identity

In conclusion, there are many forms of cultural identity such as fluid and fixed. People may say having a fixed identity is better because you can stay true to yourself and be who you are no matter your surroundings. However a fluid identity is the better option because it allows you to become apart of the society you are in and be welcomed in a quicker manner and adapt to that form of lifestyle. A fluid identity allows you to face new experiences instead of sticking to your regular routine on an everyday basis.
Topic: identity

Frida Kahlo once stated ‘I paint my reality. The only thing I know is that I paint because I need to, and I paint whatever passes through my head without any other consideration’. Art has been around for several centuries and has had many impacts on society. Women have been one of the biggest subjects in Art. They have been represented in many different perspectives throughout the years of the time era the painting was made. The three works of art that will be evaluated and discussed in this paper will be Venus of Urbino by Titian, Rosie the Riveter by Norman Rockwell and Self-portrait with cropped hair by Frida Kahlo.
Topic: identity

He created many paintings in his lifetime but one of his most well-known paintings is the Venus of Urbino. The painting shows an image of a nude woman who is referred to as Venus the goddess of love and beauty reclined along with a couch in a room with two other women in the background. The painting is balanced because of the women in the back balance the nude woman to the left. The painting is beautiful, and it has its own set of details and it depicts the sensuality and beauty of the nude woman.
Topic: identity

The third work of art is the Self-portrait with cropped hair by Frida Kahlo that shows a more recent representation of women. Frida Kahlo created a painting of herself sitting down dressed in a suit with cropped hair and hair that was cut off on the ground surrounding her. She was born on July 6 of 1907. She met Diego Rivera in 1928 whom she married the following year on August 21 in 1929. They later divorced in November of 1939 and she created the self- portrait of her with cropped hair (Souter 156).
Topic: identity

Stereotyping is an extension of social identity theory. Stereotyping is one type of prejudice that appears from us towards other people. We just look at them based on the outside and focus on a small part and jump into the conclusion. The reason why people are stereotyping is that people have categorical thinking. This sense comes with a natural and unconscious process that concludes our understanding. The second reason is we have an innate need to understand and estimate others’ behaviour.
Topic: identity

In the case of Syd Gilman and Rochelle Beauport in Hy Dairies Incorporation, Beauport works in brand management at Hy Dairies and succeeds to boost the sale of HY’s gourmet ice cream. Syd Gilman offers her the recently vacated position of market research coordinator as a platform to widen her experience in top-level management and also would increase her salaries. Beauport is happy about this good news. Unfortunately, she thinks that market research coordinator is just a sideline department to Hy Dairies Incorporation and technical support to an organization.
Topic: identity

As Beauport declined his offer and made the jump into the conclusion without taking any advantages or any consideration regarding Gilman’s offer. Beauport has a stereotype toward the market research coordinator, that this department is only a backroom job. She is not considered the chances to enhance her career in this company as Mr. Gilman has worked as the marketing research coordinator for several years earlier to obtain more experiences before he became the vice president of marketing in Hy Dairies.
Topic: identity

Hy Dairies Incorporation has stereotyped toward women and people of color in top management. Her employer in brand management said that the women could not go further and place them in technical support of lower brand management jobs. Syd Gilman also said that she could not go any further in a brand management job and she is suitable to work in a market research coordinator. The company has differentiated the level management into gender and discriminates against women, races and skin colour.
Topic: identity

The other perceptual error apparent in this study is the halo effect. The Halo effect occurs when one general impression toward a person’s characteristics distorts our perception of other characteristics of that person. This error always occurs when someone is focusing only on one information and not looking for other information. We use general information of the person to fill in the missing information. In this case, when Mr.Gilman offers her a vacant position of market research coordinator and increases her salary. She declines his offers because she only knows the general information regarding the market research coordinator is the technical support of the organization, a “backroom” job, far removed from the company’s bottom-line activities. Furthermore, she thinks that Mr.Gilman is trying to downgrade her as a woman that could not go any further to work in top-level management. She also has experience with her previous employer of brand management and stated that the women could not take the heat in brand management and placed women in technical support in brand management.
Topic: identity

The organizations or Mr.Gilman should do to minimize the perception models is, Mr.Gilman should ask the questions to Beauport why she declines his offer instead of accepting it, and asking her assumption or her thought about market research coordinator. Mr.Gilman should clarify his intention in offering the job position at market research coordinator to her. He wants Beauport to improve and expand her experiences and skills, enhance her career in the company and also this is one of the best platforms to obtain a position at top-level management as Mr.Gilman and not trying to downgrade her. He also needs to get an explanation about Beauport’s opinion and her perspective regarding the offer to avoid any misunderstanding.
Topic: identity

Culture, and the way a man is perceived by the public, leads to a search of finding his true identity. In Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison, the narrator is still in a time where there was oppression towards African American people. The narrator is a young black man who attempts to find his place in every community he’s a part of during the early 20th century. He remains nameless throughout the entire novel where reality feels surreal. He realizes that he is ultimately invisible, due to the fact that everyone he meets can only view him as surroundings, themselves, or figments of their imagination.
Topic: identity

He delivers a speech that includes words from Booker T. Washington that says blacks should cooperate with the whites that are in power. He then realizes that his ideologies can destroy his life. The narrator has an incident with Mr. Norton, a rich white trustee of the narrator’s college. Quickly, the fact that Mr. Norton is oblivious towards the African Americans’ lives is portrayed. The destruction occurs after helping Mr. Norton, when he falls unconscious, “The white folk tell everybody what to think—except men like me.
Topic: identity

I tell them; that’s my life, telling white folk how to think about the things I know about” (Ellison 143). Dr. Bledsoe confronts the narrator with a derogatory term and the narrator is shocked that his seemingly harmless actions have detrimental repercussions. He does not understand that there is more to his life than keeping the rich white man satisfied. Soon after he moves to New York, his thoughts about race become more complex.
Topic: identity

At the beginning of Invisible Man, the young narrator viewed the white people as somewhat god-like. He felt that they should always be pleased, as shown through his interactions with Mr. Norton. It’s important to understand the hardships African Americans faced due to the cruel actions of white people, and still, they are considered superior. As a young black man in America during the 1920s, the narrator often experiences racism. This is before realizing that white men aren’t really that much more important than he is. The narrator tries to find himself when he is sent to New York, which is completely different than his southern background. He is still confused and unsure of his new role and identity. As he adapts to his new life in Harlem, he attempts to orient his relationship to his new community.
Topic: identity

As the narrator walks through the unfamiliar streets of Harlem, he encounters a vendor and immediately smells the aroma of baked yams. The odor reminds the narrator of his childhood and southern background. The yams symbolize the relationship between the narrator’s past and present. The narrator wants to lose the southern aspects of his life and forget his past when he arrives in New York, but he still has a history. For his entire life, the narrator has been trained to think that certain aspects of black cultural life are shameful or represent a form of black inferiority. The narrator realizes that there is no reason to dislike yams other than to gain white approval, which is something that no longer interests him.
Topic: identity

Throughout the novel, the narrator references and constantly remembers the words his grandfather said before dying, “I never told you, but our life is a war and I have been a traitor all my born days, a spy in the enemy’s country…Live with your head in the lion’s mouth. I want you to overcome ‘em with yeses, undermine ‘em with grins, agree ‘em to death and destruction…” (Ellison 16). After trying to find his identity through so many organizations and communities that led him astray, the narrator’s grandfather is the only solid thing that has remained constant throughout his life. During his time in New York, the narrator joins a community of men called the Brotherhood, where the unnamed narrator feels a sense of security and unity with people of his own race as they all want equality in a white world. This feeling doesn’t last long as the narrator decides that the Brotherhood is only another part of the white power system and that he needs to try to override the organization. After finding his identity of invisibility, the narrator finally finds his relationship with race and his history.
Topic: identity

The novel The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian is about a young boy named Arnold Spirit aka Junior who was raised on a reservation near Spokane, Washington. Junior lives a poor lifestyle and was born with multiple medical problems, making it harder to accept himself since he was always getting bullied by other kids on the reservation. That is until he decides to switch to a high achieving school attended by wealthy white kids, called Reardon. This is the decision that really put Junior’s future in a new perspective when realizing he did not want to follow in everyone else’s footsteps on the reservation who didn’t change lifestyle.
Topic: identity

For example, “Traveling between Reardan and Wellpinit, between the little white town and the reservation, I always felt like a stranger. I was half Indian in one place and half white in the other. It was like being Indian was my job, but it was only a part-time job. And it didn’t pay well” (Alexie 118). This quote explains two sides of Junior, on the reservation, he is beaten up and considered an outcast while at Reardon he earns respect by his peers by standing up for himself. As well as by later joining the basketball team. Even though he still feels guilt for leaving, he doesn’t have regrets. Junior’s identity makes him stronger both physically and mentally by finding resilience in the tough circumstances he faces such as the betrayal of his best friend, Rowdy. He believes he belongs in multiple different tribes that shape who he is as a person. As the journey through identity is not easy for Junior, he learns to view himself not simply as “Junior the Indian” or a “traitor” on the reservation, but as someone who portrays multiple different roles in life. He moves locations between home and Reardon like a nomad. Overall, by seeing himself this way, Junior resolves his split personality crisis and finds a substantial, less confining form of identity.
Topic: identity

In this novel, the concept of hopes and dreams is seen throughout the novel as Junior develops and positive attitude and a willingness to remain true to what he believes in. While on the reservation, Junior had always viewed hopes and dreams as primarily lost opportunities rather than a goal he can achieve. Junior watches everyone else on the reservation who threw their lives away by not desiring to do anything out of the normal. Junior didn’t want to turn out like them so he left by the advice of Mr. P, who encouraged him to leave the ‘sad’ reservation. For instance, “And let me tell you, that old, old, old, decrepit geometry book hit my heart with the force of a nuclear bomb. My hopes and dreams floated up in a mushroom cloud. What do you do when the world has declared nuclear war on you?” (Alexie 31). This is the turning point in the book which really puts into perspective that Junior wants to leave and create a new life for himself after seeing that his mother’s old book at school. Junior was seen as a traitor to all of the other kids on the reservation, but his decisions were still supported by his family.
Topic: identity

Especially to Rowdy who became resentful as he thought he was choosing wealthy white people over him. Primarily, Junior uses his mother and father as a reference since they fall in the category of those who once “dreamed about being something other than poor, but they never got the chance to be anything because nobody paid attention to their dreams” (Alexie 11). This pattern applies to his sister Mary as well. She who had plans and potential to become a writer, but gave up and began living in the basement as a kind of symbolic burial. To Junior, the loss of hope is part of what it means to live on the reservation and be Indian hence why Junior found a place of meaning to leave the reservation and aspire to do something else. As Junior reconnects with Rowdy near the end of the novel, he realizes that in order to follow his hopes and dreams, he has to face the consequence of possibly losing that comfortable connection that he’s used to with friends, family, and ultimately the place where he grew up and feels the safest.
Topic: identity

Wealth inequality can also be viewed as a recurring theme with not only Junior’s individual family, but along with the effect it has on an entire community struggling financially. Especially how alcoholism is brought to the reservation and causes death and despair. Along with his grandmother, sister, and Eugene’s death which put a big toll on his outlook on the quality of the reservation. Although he does wish situations were different, Junior seems to express the attitude that there is nothing he can do about his poorness. For example, “It sucks to be poor, and it sucks to feel that you somehow deserve to be poor. You start believing that you’re poor because you’re stupid and ugly. And then you start believing that you’re stupid and ugly because you’re Indian. And because you’re Indian you start believing you’re destined to be poor. It’s an ugly circle and there’s nothing you can do about it” (Alexie 13).
Topic: identity

Junior is also embarrassed to admit to his classmates that he is poor because he simply wanted to fit into an economic status so that he can belong. Junior dwells on his poorness and views it as a barrier that is stopping him from becoming successful in the future. As Junior says, “Poverty doesn’t give you strength or teach you lessons about perseverance. No, poverty only teaches you how to be poor” (Alexie 13). Junior is in the belief that the state of being poor is unfixable and that it doesn’t make one stronger or a better individual. He partially blames the fact of being Indian as the reason why he’s so poor, but then he realizes that his white peers such as Penelope and Gordy have problems of their own. They become sympathetic to Junior after learning about his situation. Poverty sheds a negative light on the reservation because of the spread of alcoholism, which makes that the main cause of why so many Indian families are unhappy. Not only does Junior’s first hand experience on poverty affect how he views his own family, but it includes how he sees the broken reality of other families and their wealth status as it is simply difficult to overcome.
Topic: identity

In conclusion, throughout the novel, themes of identity, hopes and dreams, and wealth inequality are brought up and represented in numerous ways. From his medical history to lacking self-confidence, Junior deals with some obstacles throughout his life. But in the end all he really wants is a good future for himself whether that is becoming an artist or just simply playing basketball. Wealth in Junior’s life is seen as a burden but doesn’t mean he can’t continue his education and make the best of himself by seeing the brighter picture of events while facing the rough side of consequences.
Topic: identity

The concept of identity theft has attracted immense attention in recent times, particularly given the significant negative effects that it has on the economic and social health of any society. In a nutshell, it involves the deliberate and unauthorized utilization of another person’s identity to gain a financial advantage to the detriment of the other person(Machajewski, 2017). This essay is going to analyze identity theft to shed light on why it is such a problem in society, and how it can be solved.
Topic: identity

It is worth noting that there are various ways in which identity theft takes place. In most cases, the culprit would have access to the personal or financial information of another person including the driver’s license, social security number, and birth certificate among others (Machajewski, 2017). The identity thief would then use this information to create credit accounts, through which he or she would apply for and take loans, , purchase merchandise, or pay for services at the expense of the victim (Mcnair& Williams, 2017).
Topic: identity

On the same note, casualties of identity theft could face criminal charges. This is chiefly predicated on what the criminal did with the stolen identity. In most cases, identity thieves use the stolen identity to commit financial fraud against other people or entities (Mcnair& Williams, 2017). The victim would have to prove that he or she was unaware of the financial improprieties carried out in their name. The potential for being implicated in crimes that they know nothing about underlines the seriousness of the offense.
Topic: identity

Combating identity theft often necessitates that the sufferer identifies the type of crime with which he is dealing. Key among the different types of identity theft is financial identity theft, where the culprit accesses the victim’s bank account and makes financial transactions with the same. In addition, there is insurance identity theft and medical identity theft, which occurs when the offenders obtain unauthorized identity information and use it to access the victim’s insurance, and attain medical treatment without the latter’s knowledge. Criminal identity theft, on the other hand, comes up when individuals commit crimes under other people’s names. In some cases, the perpetrators use fraudulent identity cards with the casualty’s personal details to evade the law. In the case of tax identity theft, the person responsible would provide fake tax refund claims to the IRS with false or stolen personal information including the name and Social Security Number, which results in delays in the capacity of the victim to obtain legitimate tax refunds.
Topic: identity

Social Security Identity theft, on the other hand, involves stealing the social security number and selling the same to other entities, especially undocumented individuals, or even using the same to access services, opportunities, steal money and properties that are only available to holders of the unique number. More often than not, the perpetrator forges falsified documents using the victim’s personal information. Lastly, there is synthetic identity theft, in which the criminals use the casualty’s social security number and falsify information such as birth dates, names and addresses, thereby creating entirely new identities that they can use to commit fraud and build their credit. Nevertheless, the Social Security Number would not change, in which case, the victim’s credit would still be ruined in the long-term.
Topic: identity

Numerous strategies have been devised to combat identity theft. Key among them is ensuring that personal information is not shared with other entities unless it is absolutely necessary (Machajewski, 2017). Information such as the date of birth, bank account number and social security number, among other sensitive information, should be protected to reduce the potential of it being accessed by unauthorized entities (Mcnair& Williams, 2017). Important documents that incorporate such information including prescription drug containers should be secured or even entirely destroyed.
Topic: identity

On the same note, delicate information such as password combinations and usernames should be protected and not stored in public computers’ hard drives. It is imperative that an individual logs out from secure sites such as online banks’ websites after use. Organizations must always ensure that their systems have top-notch security against cybercrimes such as automatically logging out users after a period of inactivity (Machajewski, 2017). This should be complemented by ensuring that the password information is not saved on the web browser and other sensitive sites.
Topic: identity

1.3.5.The Identity Crisis The theme of identity today is one of the most challenging cultural nodes for education in general and the pastoral. The term itself is rich and complex in nature in the sense that it can be defined by various filed of studies. However, in a simple definition, identity is the fact of being who or what a person or thing is. Moreover, identity could be understood in the interdisciplinary context. In fact the answer to questions who I am, who I must become cannot be given without a reference to a multiplicity of personal data, social and cultural that enter simultaneously in play.
Topic: identity

One’s identity can be identified therefore in the consideration of the various factors in one’s life such as the culture, the religion and the society where he/she belongs. Sociologically speaking, identity refers to the specific designations ” ascribed or achieved ” individuals use to recognize sameness, which in turn distinguishes them from the other and thus answers the question who am I? To put differently, identity is invoked in the various categories people use to specify who they are and to locate themselves relative to other people.
Topic: identity

According to Erikson, an identity crisis is a time of intensive analysis and exploration of different ways of looking at oneself. Identity basically refers to how a person answers the question “Who am I?” S. Sharma and M. Sharma said “Identity is an umbrella term used throughout the social sciences to describe an individual’s comprehension of him or herself as a discrete, separate entity. The development of clear and positive identity or identities involves building self-esteem, facilitating the exploration of and commitment to self-definition, reducing self-discrepancies, and fostering role formation and achievement.
Topic: identity

Autonomy versus same and doubt: Autonomy means being your own boss.  Here a toddler tries to control their own bodies by toilet training and their environment, by always saying “NO!”.  Sometimes they do poopy in their pants or get yelled at by their parents, causing shame and doubt in their own abilities.  If we learn how to control ourselves in reasonable ways, we develop a healthy will.  We are then able to face the later challenges of life.
Topic: identity

Initiative versus guilt: Here the keyword in a child’s life changes from “No!” to why?”.  In this stage, children want to understand the world and they ask too many freak in questions!!!!  If their initiative in questioning the world is encouraged, then they will feel comfortable with expressing their curiosity throughout the rest of their life.  If we smack them around and tell them to shut up, then they will feel guilty about their questioning and avoid being inquisitive later.
Topic: identity

Industry versus inferiority: This is where most children begin formal education (what we call the school).  For the first time children are being formally evaluated.  If they raise their hand in class and answer a question correctly. then they will feel industrious (competent).  If he tries to answer a question but stutters to get out the wrong answer and Matt Dunn, Nick Adams, and Josh Bieber all start making fun of his speech impediment, then he will feel inferior (it still hurts even today).
Topic: identity

Generativity versus stagnation: Erikson believed that by the time we reach our mid-30s to mid-50s we start to really examine our lives and see if it is going the way you planned it or did it take a drastic turn.  For example, when I was your age, I thought by the time I was 33 (yes- I am 33) I would be traveling around South America with a whip, discovering lost treasuring, and meeting new exotic women from the village to village.  Instead, I live in Rye and teach Social Studies in Harrison, with 3 kids and a big mortgage (I don’t even own a whip).  This is where some people take drastic steps and change their lives.  You will see a lot of late divorces or extreme changes in clothes or cars- we call this experience a midlife crisis.
Topic: identity

Integrity versus despair: Towards the end of our lives we look back and evaluate ourselves.  Did we live a good life?  Leave behind a legacy of friends or family?  Or did we waste our time playing Madden 2023 on PlayStation 7?  If we feel like there were many lost opportunities along the way, we may fall into despair.  I like to use this stage to try to shape my life now- you should too.
Topic: identity

According to Meeus (1996)identity development can end up in one of four possible identity statuses: diffusion, foreclosure, moratorium, and identity achievement. Each of these statuses can also be examined in connection with other psychosocial outcome correlates, such as psychological well-being, quality of life, identity congruity or discrepancies, strategies and skills in problem-solving and coping, and self-regulation abilities. Quantitative and qualitative methods (like the Identity Status interview) have been devised to assess such statuses.
Topic: identity

Active attempts were made to capture the dynamic evolutions in identity formation, development, and possible shifts between different identity statuses. Klimstra et al. (1991). conducted a five-wave longitudinal study of 923 early-to-middle adolescents and 390 middle-to-late adolescents that provides a comprehensive understanding of change and stability in identity formation in adolescence. Three types of change and stability (mean-level change, rank-order stability, and profile stability) were assessed according to the three-dimension model of identity (commitment, in-depth exploration, and reconsideration). The study is robust in its large sample size, elaborate research design, psychometric specificity the strength of the measures used, and its sharpness in addressing theoretical postulations. The study has opened up new frontiers in identity assessment and research. It has revealed that there are changes in identity dimensions towards maturity and there is a progressive change in the way that adolescents deal with commitments.
Topic: identity

Identity answers the question, “Who am I?”. Made up of our characteristics, such as self-conception, identity defines who we are within a larger group. This idea of identity is explored throughout Toni Morrison’s Beloved. The story follows a former slave named Sethe and her family during the post-slavery era. Through the story of Beloved and the use of Gothic elements such as isolation, the supernatural, and the oppression of women, Morrison explores the theme of the loss of identity as a result of trauma, and how one can claim it through the community.
Topic: identity

Thus, for Paul D, his manhood lay in his ability to have agency and power in his life. Later in his life, the trauma caused by Beloved’s rape of Paul D causes him to question his manhood. During this rape, she tells him that “you have to touch me. On the inside part. And you have to call me my name” (137). After this confrontation, Paul D remarks that he was “being moved, placed where she wanted him, and there was nothing he was able to do about it” (149).
Topic: identity

Thus, Beloved has challenged Paul D’s manhood by taking away his power and making him a “ragdoll.” Moreover, this situation employs the gothic element of the oppression of females by males. Though not a female character, Paul D embodies a gothic female as a “victim,” helpless and passive, whereas Beloved embodies a more masculine character through her aggression and dominance. Morrison’s use of the gothic element of oppression of female characters enhances Paul D’s struggle with his loss of manhood (and thus identity) through the underscoring of his masculinity by placing him in a traditionally more feminine role.
Topic: identity

Morrison’s use of gothic elements extends the idea of Sethe’s loss of identity and self-conception through trauma. Throughout her life as a slave, Sethe has created her identity at the hands and definitions of the white people. In the first chapter, Sethe discloses to Paul D that after helping her three children escape from Sweet Home, Schoolteacher “used cowhide on you […] and they took my milk” (21). Additionally, on another day at Sweet Home, Sethe “stopped because I heard my name […] when I heard him say, ‘No, no. That’s not the way. I told you to put her human characteristics on the left; animal ones on the right’” (228). This demonstrates that, at Sweet Home, the slaveowners have stripped her of her identity: depriving her of the motherly responsibility of nursing her young and equating her to an animal. After she escapes, however, Sethe has no form of self-conception and thus begins to become defined by her past. In the third chapter, Sethe realizes that “124 was so full of strong feeling perhaps she was oblivious to the loss of anything at all” (47). In this instance, the “strong feeling” that Sethe refers to is the ghost of her dead child that haunts 124. This haunting by a ghost employs the gothic element of supernatural activity. Here, Morrison’s use of supernatural activity enhances the idea of Sethe’s lack of self-identity by demonstrating how her past continues to “haunt” her in the present and how it has consumed and defined her to the point where she does not perceive the lack of color. Sethe’s loss of identity stems from her trauma at Sweet Home and continues in the present through her lack of self-conception.
Topic: identity

Denver’s lack of self-conception is created through Morrison’s use of gothic elements. Throughout much of the first part, Denver’s life is characterized by the gothic element of isolation. Denver’s isolation came as a result, not because of her actions, but because of Sethe’s killing of Beloved and the trauma of Sethe’s past that led her to that decision. Moreso, however, Denver does not have a past like her mother and thus fails to have self-conception in a history that excludes her. This conflict is expressed in Denver’s first interactions with Paul D, where she states that Sethe and Paul D “were a twosome, saying ‘Your daddy’ and ‘Sweet Home’ in a way that made it clear both belonged to them and not to her. That her own father’s absence was not hers” (15). The bitterness in Denver’s tone reflects her internal turmoil and her difficulty of self-conception within a world that does not include her. Thus, Morrison’s use of the gothic element of isolation creates Denver’s struggle with her identity.
Topic: identity

Morrison uses gothic elements to demonstrate the importance of the community in the recreation of one’s identity. Most broadly, Morrison uses the idea of community as the antithesis of the gothic element of isolation. Throughout the third part, Sethe begins to delve into madness, becoming increasingly isolated within 124. In order to solve this, Denver “leave[s] the yard, step off the world, leave the two behind, and go ask somebody for help” (286). It is only when she leaves for her community and comes out of the isolation that Denver becomes an independent woman and thus begins to understand who she is in the world, epitomized by her remark that she was “her father’s daughter after all” (296). Denver’s venture into the community leads to their support for Sethe, culminating in “the voices of women [searching] for the right combination, the key, the code, the sound that broke the back of words […] it broke over Sethe and she trembled like the baptized in its watched” (308). This “baptism” is what drives Beloved out of 124, which thus allows her to move on from her past into a new future. Thus, as the antithesis of the gothic element of isolation, the community acts as a way to reclaim one’s identity.
Topic: identity

James Joyce’s inspiration for writing came from experiences with his family and the town in which he lived. For example, Joyce’s father was a highly regarded tenor singer in Ireland due to that there was no steady income for the family upkeep. In addition, his father was also an alcoholic so Joyce grew up poor. He depicts this aspect of his childhood in the text when the narrator’s uncle comes home late and drunk even after being pre-informed of the narrator’s desire to go to the bazaar.
Topic: identity

In Joyce’s ‘Araby’, there is seen an awakening and confusing passion experienced by a boy on the brink of adulthood. The narrator’s immaturity is evident in both his inflated expectations concerning his love interest and his dashed hopes at the bazaar. There is a moment of truth, realization, and pain that his love may be taken away from him or may not exist at all. The boy makes a transition from his childish ideals to the realities of adult life. This is a story of the tragic loss of innocence; a kind of puberty in itself.
Topic: identity

“According to John Loke, the self is identified as a thinking, intelligent being that has the abilities to reason and to reflect”. (Chaffee, 2016). Self is an individual person as the object of his or her own reflective consciousness. Self is a reference by a subject to the same subject. In chapter 3 of the text, the author talks about “self” and the many different perceptions of it. I chose “The Self Is Consciousness and We Construct the Self. Locke believes that “self” is the essence of the self is its conscious awareness of itself as a thinking, reasoning, reflecting identity.
Topic: identity

” (Chaffee, 2016). There is also another philosopher in chapter 3 Immanuel Kant who believed that self has an inner and outer self that forms our consciousness. He believes that “self” is one’s consciousness and is how one processes things they experience. While both Locke and Kant make some good points as it pertains to self, I believe that Locke’s perspectives were more plausible to me and I could relate more to his perspectives.
Topic: identity

In his essay from “On Personal Identity”, Locke talked about self as a thinking intelligent being, that has a reason and reflection, and can consider itself as itself, the same thinking thing, in different times and places.” (Chaffee, 2016). He believes self cannot exist without consciousness. Consciousness is being aware that we are thinking, always accompanies thinking, and is an essential part of the thinking process. When we see, hear, smell, taste, feel, or meditate we are aware of what is going on around us. For our perceptual systems, and our cognitive system, are designed to work together to enable us to direct our attentional and our perceptual resources to where they are needed. (Noe, 2002). Consciousness is what makes it possible for us to understand that we are the same in different times and places. John Locke argues that the soul is not tied to a single soul but to a consciousness that passes from person to person. (Chaffee, 2016)
Topic: identity

Immanuel Kant is a philosopher who attempted to integrate empiricism and rationalism. He proposed a second self, the empirical self or ego, which consists of those traits that make us each a unique personality. Rationalism is the theory that reason, rather than experience, is the foundation of all knowledge. According to Kant, “it’s our self that makes experiencing an intelligible world possible because it’s self that is responsible for synthesizing the discreet data of sense experience into a meaningful whole,” (Chaffee, 2016). Kant invented unity of consciousness which, is described as the fact that the thoughts and perceptions of any given mind are bound together in unity by being all contained in one consciousness. (Chaffee, 2016). Kant believes that there is an inner and outer self that works together to create our consciousness. The inner self is comprised of our psychological state and our rational intellect and the outer includes our sense and the physical world. When view things around you, you view them from your own perspective. He gives the example of people being in the same place but having totally perspectives that is what Kant meant by unity of consciousness.
Topic: identity

Kant had a thought-provoking way of explaining themself. He described it as dumping a puzzle out and it not having meaning until all the pieces are put together to him that’s how the mind works. Our minds gather information and sort it based on significance. He talked about prior meaning was of organizing and relating the world.” (Chaffee, 2016). “Kant backs that the dependence of self-consciousness on consciousness by arguing that the temporal succession of any conscious awareness cannot just consist in the consciousness of one’s representation after another.” (Winfield, 2006). It’s our self that performs and arranges our experience in a way that known and recognizable by significance. Yourself is not like other objects located in your consciousness, self is a subject, an organizing principle that makes an incorporated and unmistakable experience feasible.
Topic: identity

According to the source, “Interpersonal Self- Consciousness” talks about self-consciousness in different versions. One involves distinctive knowledge that one is in a certain kind of conscious mental state or enjoying a certain sort of conscious mental event. The second is a distinctive kind of self- consciousness for which passing a mirror test if it’s done right can prove evidence. Interpersonal self-consciousness is an awareness that oneself in another person’s consciousness is present in an ordinary face-to-face conversation with another person. (Peacocke, 2014). In the article, there were two perspectives of self: interpersonal self-consciousness and perspectival self-consciousness. “When a subject is capable of the interpersonal self-conscious states involved in linguistic communication such communication can convey to the subject information that he would otherwise be able to attain, if at all, only by an exercise of perspectival self-consciousness.” (Peacocke, 2014).
Topic: identity

John Locke and Immanuel Kant were both believers in self they just both brought out different points and views on it. After looking at and analyzing claims from both I still find Locke’s to be more persuasive because first he discussed (Chaffee, 2016) identifying what it means to be a person, distinguishing a person, and what a person is considered. On the other hand, Kant believes that self has an inner and outer and that’s what forms the consciousness. Locke also believes that one is born with an empty soul. I believe this to be true because as babies we learn from what we see and what we were taught. “Perspectival self-consciousness is a special instance of our more general ability as perceivers to keep track of how things are.” (Noe, 2002).