Essay 3
Nicole Hands
Professor Dinh
English 100
11 November 2013 Identity
Identity is what defines a person on who they are and what they are all about. Commonly identity is only labeled as male or female. Your personality and physical characteristics are just a couple of things that shape your identity. In certain situations a person feels that he or she does not completely belong to a certain identity, male or female. Some say they feel half and half or just completely opposite of their appearance. Our identity can never be constant. Identity and belonging are inter-related; they go like peas in a pod. The groups we choose to belong to and the ways we connect with others help to form our own identity.
Together, these issues go to the heart of who we are and how we present ourselves to the world. One human quality that we all share, despite our individual identities, is the need to belong. It is a paradox that we long to be free, to be who we truly are and yet we yearn to belong to some kind of community. There is no obligation to belong to one group, you can belong to many, that is, an individual is not bound or obliged to belong to one group, they belong to many which can create multiple identities for the individual, thus our sense of identity can never be constant.
Belonging to a group of supportive friends and /or peers nurture us and help us to develop our own of self. However, the cost of belonging can be substantial. Families, for example, may have expectations of us that conflict with our own ambitions. Groups may demand unquestioning obedience and conformity. It is painful to be an outsider but there is often a price to pay for belonging. It can be difficult to balance these conflicting impulses, to be both independently ourselves and to belong to a wider community. Identity is who we are and what our values consist of. Identity helps to perceive us as an individual rather than judging us on the
Professor Dinh
English 100
11 November 2013 Identity
Identity is what defines a person on who they are and what they are all about. Commonly identity is only labeled as male or female. Your personality and physical characteristics are just a couple of things that shape your identity. In certain situations a person feels that he or she does not completely belong to a certain identity, male or female. Some say they feel half and half or just completely opposite of their appearance. Our identity can never be constant. Identity and belonging are inter-related; they go like peas in a pod. The groups we choose to belong to and the ways we connect with others help to form our own identity.
Together, these issues go to the heart of who we are and how we present ourselves to the world. One human quality that we all share, despite our individual identities, is the need to belong. It is a paradox that we long to be free, to be who we truly are and yet we yearn to belong to some kind of community. There is no obligation to belong to one group, you can belong to many, that is, an individual is not bound or obliged to belong to one group, they belong to many which can create multiple identities for the individual, thus our sense of identity can never be constant.
Belonging to a group of supportive friends and /or peers nurture us and help us to develop our own of self. However, the cost of belonging can be substantial. Families, for example, may have expectations of us that conflict with our own ambitions. Groups may demand unquestioning obedience and conformity. It is painful to be an outsider but there is often a price to pay for belonging. It can be difficult to balance these conflicting impulses, to be both independently ourselves and to belong to a wider community. Identity is who we are and what our values consist of. Identity helps to perceive us as an individual rather than judging us on the