Identity

Identity: Original

A person’s identity is their individual uniqueness. It is how one person distinguishes another. What makes a person different from everybody else is that some people speak different languages and have different ways to say things, some people come from different countries, and some people have different appearances or personalities. All of these factors can be beneficial contributors in finding one’s self-identity.

Language can be one of the best contributors in finding one’s self-identity because you can express yourself however you want with words. In Queen Latifah’s “Who You Callin’ a Bitch?” she was able to find that words are very powerful and she, “learned that what you put out in the spoken and in the written word is what you’ll get back” (34). Many people, she explained, took the names that other people called them, like bitch and ho, and accepted that that is what they actually were when in fact they weren’t. This would be a chance to use your words and stand up for yourself to create your own identity, one that is actually who you are. People have the power to create a strong self-identity just by speaking out loud and using their language to do this.

People also come from all around the world. This alone should help people feel a strong sense of self-identity. Especially in our country many people are born and raised in America and have never been to another country. This means someone from another country living in America would be distinguished by their home-country. An example would be someone from Italy or Croatia coming to America, people around them would put an “identity marker” on them saying they are the “The Italian” or “The Croatian”. Being from another country should help with one’s self-identity because they are unique and Americans should feel happy to have them in the country and learn from them about other countries and their cultures.

Having different appearances or personalities can also be a challenge but can also be some of the best contributors in finding one’s self-identity. In Lucy Grealy’s, “Masks” she was faced with the fact that she looked different. Her face was scarred from having cancer and she couldn’t do anything to change that. She chose to try to hide it as much as she could so people wouldn’t look at her differently because that is what she was afraid of, not fitting in. If people can break through that barrier, like in Emily White’s, “High School’s Secret Life” she mentioned how the “natural helpers” stepped out of their comfort zones and everyone was “amazed that these natural helpers suddenly stand in front of them,” “beaming like saints”, then their self-esteem would rise and they could start to find who they are and their strong sense of self-identity (19).

Our society causes people to have very low self-esteem and no confidence. As Queen Latifah points out, “It starts with our own self-esteem, and too many women don’t have any” (35). And as Donald Trump says, to “find the greatness within yourself, the most important first step is to get out of [your] comfort zone” (242). This way you can find yourself and find out who you really are.



Identity: Revised

A person’s identity is their individual uniqueness. It is how one person distinguishes another. What makes a person different from everybody else is that some people speak different languages and have different ways to say things, some people come from different countries, and some people have different appearances or personalities. All of these factors can be beneficial contributors in finding one’s self-identity.

Language can be one of the best contributors in finding one’s self-identity because you can express yourself however you want with words. In Queen Latifah’s “Who You Callin’ a Bitch?” she was able to find that words are very powerful and she, “learned that what you put out in the spoken and in the written word is what you’ll get back” (34). Many people, she explained, took the names that other people called them, like bitch and ho, and accepted that that is what they actually were when in fact they weren’t. This would be a chance to use your words and stand up for yourself to create your own identity, one that is actually who you are. People have the power to create a strong self-identity just by speaking out loud and using their language to do this.

People also come from all around the world. Even though this doesn’t allow people to fully create their own identity it does give them a sense of their own personal identity. This is especially so for those who come from different countries who now live in America because they are coming to a country where most of the people were born and raised here so this would mean they have an identity of the country where they came from. An example would be someone from Mexico coming to America, people around them would put an “identity marker” on them saying they are the “The Hispanic”. Being from another country should help with one’s self-identity because they are unique. In any country, travelers or tourists have their own identities because they are most likely foreign to the country in which they are going.

Having different appearances or personalities can also be a challenge but can also be some of the best contributors in finding one’s self-identity. In Lucy Grealy’s, “Masks” she was faced with the fact that she looked different. Her face was scarred from having cancer and she couldn’t do anything to change that. She chose to try to hide it as much as she could so people wouldn’t look at her differently because that is what she was afraid of, not fitting in. If people can break through that barrier, like in Emily White’s, “High School’s Secret Life” she mentioned how the “natural helpers” stepped out of their comfort zones, found their own self-identities, and who they wanted to be, and everyone was “amazed that these natural helpers suddenly stand in front of them,” “beaming like saints”, then their self-esteem would rise and they could start to find who they are and their strong sense of self-identity as well (19).

Our society causes people to have very low self-esteem and no confidence. As Queen Latifah points out, “It starts with our own self-esteem, and too many women don’t have any” (35). And as Donald Trump says, to “find the greatness within yourself, the most important first step is to get out of [your] comfort zone” (242). If people could do this then they could find themselves, find out who they really are, and start to build their own unique self-identity.