Friday, June 5, 2009

Table of Contents

Table of Contents



Reflection



Analyze, Analyze, Analyze



Non-Conformity



Audience is key



Evolution of tradition



The act of revising



Original-Identity vs. Personal Choice



Revised Identity vs. Personal Choice



An inspiring writers choice



Freedom Writers



Revised Identity vs. Personal Choice

Britney Collver
Professors Smith and Wells-Edwards
English 101
April 17th 2009

Identity vs. Personal Choices

In Reality, Identity is personal choice. Identity is who each individual portrays him/herself to be through personal choices and decisions, and that can be changed at any point. It is true that there are some characteristics that effect an identity that are not controllable by personal choice, but even those can easily be manipulated. Identity is based upon personal actions and reactions, how each man and woman presents him/herself and ultimately how the world identifies each person.

All individuals make their own personal choices and decisions. These decisions range from determining career paths, whether to go to college, to play sports, to get married, to live a small town life, or to live in a big city. It’s these decisions that truly define a person’s identity. If Sally Mae chooses to be a doctor, she will be viewed much differently by all those around her than if she had decided to be a stripper. This may seem only skin deep as Sally is the same person either way, but those decisions change how she ultimately lives her life. A person who has made the life-long goal of continual medical education and helping others as a doctor, has a much different mind set and life values than Sally, who has chosen to entertain others for a living. This may seem unfair, as Sally may have just not had the finances to continue education, and was left with seemingly no other choice, but even if this were the case, she could have chosen to be a waitress or work retail, potentially keeping the same morals as we would assume the doctor to have. The simple fact that stripping was her decision creates a much different identity to the world.

A person’s identity is also determined by how he/she (pronoun agreement) chooses to present him/herself. Some individuals have hobbies and passions that take up a large portion of their life, which causes others to identify them through those subjects. My boss, for example, is infatuated with the Oregon Ducks. He makes this so apparent that any time he is given a gifts, everyone gets him something associated with the Oregon ducks. Those around him immediately think of him when hearing of the Oregon Ducks, because he has chosen to make the Ducks such a large part of his life, and share this with the people in his life. He has decided that this love for the Ducks is a substantial part of who he is, and through that he has created an identity for himself, as viewed by those around him.

No matter whom a person is on the inside, identity is nothing more than how others view that person, based on what the person has allowed them to see. What the census doesn’t count, states that “Individuals may choose one identity for themselves, but others in society may make another choice for them. The black Indian child may think of himself as Indian, but if no one around him does, than he has run up against the limit of his own power to choose a racial identity” (pg. 67). Likewise, if an individual is a book worm but tells no one of this, it is not how people will see him/her, and therefore is not his/her identity to the world. If and individual chooses to seclude his/herself from the world, and move to the middle of the woods, or some place where no one will know they even exist, than he/she will ultimately have no identity to the rest of the world.

There is a strong opposing side to this argument, as there are certain uncontrollable factors that play a part in a person’s identity as well. Circumstances such as culture, race and family roots, for instance, do make up identifying factors in every person’s life, changing and having strong effects on visual identity. These factors, however, are only where a person comes from and how he/she entered the world. From there, anyone can make him/herself into whomever they decide to be. Some may choose to follow their culture with things such as religion and family beliefs, others may decide not to. It is every individual’s personal choice to make that part of his/her identity or not.

The “F word”, is a great story which demonstrates how easy it is to manipulate a characteristic an individual was born into, which does effect how others view them. The story follows the life of Firoozeh Dumas, who was born with a name and into a race which was not socially accepted while she was growing up. In order to change her identity, she changed her name to “Julie.” She states, “Because I spoke English without an accent and was known as Julie, people assumed I was American” (pg 62). She was suddenly accepted by her peers, even though they had not accepted her as Firoozeh. She chose to change the name she was born with, and that alone changed her identity to all those around her. Even though she was the same person inside, it gave her an entirely new identity, as she was now presenting herself in a different light. Changing her name also changed her life style, which affected her identity as well. She began changing her daily activities and socializing with people who otherwise wouldn’t have given her the time of day. Suddenly she was getting job offers that she would not have even been considered for previously. Everything around her drastically changed, and all because she chose to change her name, and in tern her identity to others.

There are clearly many factors which make up an individual’s identity. It is not easily distinguished and there is certainly not one determining characteristic. That is what is so great about an identity, it can be formulated and manipulated by almost anything, and is so unique that there will never be two alike. Each person in this world chooses how to live his/her life, and what to present to others about themselves. Even uncontrollable characteristics can be shaped and altered. An identity can be made into anything personally desired, and it is because of this that we are all so unique.

Thursday, June 4, 2009

Original Identity Vs. Personal Choice

Britney Collver
English 101
April 17th 2009
Identity vs. Personal Choices

Identity is who each individual portrays themselves to be through personal choices and decisions. Each person has the power to create and change their identity at any point in their lives. There are some characteristics that ultimately do change an identity that are not controllable by personal choice, but even those can easily be to manipulated. It is based upon personal actions and reactions, how each man and woman presents themselves, and ultimately how the world identifies each person.

All individual makes their own personal choices and decisions. These decisions range from determining career paths, whether to go to college, to play sports, to get married, to live a small town life, or to live in a big city. It’s these decisions that truly define a person’s identity. If Sally Mae chooses to be a doctor, she will be viewed much differently by all those around her than if she had decided to be a stripper. This may seem only skin deep as Sally is the same person either way, but those decisions change how she ultimately lives her life. A person who has made the life long goal of continual medical education and helping others as a doctor, has a much different mind set and life values than Sally, who has chosen to “entertain” others for a living. This may seem unfair, as Sally may have just not had the finances to continue education, and was left with seemingly no other choice, but even if this were the case, she could have chosen to be a waitress or work retail, keeping the same morals as we would assume the doctor to have. The simple fact that stripping was her decision, says much about her identity. As many people say, actions truly do speak louder than words.

A person’s identity is also determined from how they choose to present themselves. Some individuals have hobbies and passions that take up a large portion of their life which causes others around them to identify them through those subjects. My boss, for example, is infatuated with the Oregon Ducks. He makes this so apparent that any time he is given a gifts, everyone gets him something associated with the Oregon ducks. Those around him immediately think of him when hearing of the Oregon Ducks, because he has chosen to make it such a large part of his life, and share this with those around him. He has decided that this love for the Ducks is a substantial part of who he is, and through that he has created an identity for himself, as viewed by those around him.

No matter who you are as a person, your identity is nothing but how others view you. What the census doesn’t count states that “Individuals may choose one identity for themselves, but others in society may make another choice for them. The black Indian child may think of himself as Indian, but if no one around him does, than he has run up against the limit of his own power to choose a racial identity” (pg. 67). Likewise, if you are a book worm but tell no one of this, it is not how people will view you, and therefore is not your identity to the world. If you seclude yourself to the world, and move to the middle of the woods, or some place where no one will know you even exist, than you will ultimately have no identity.

This brings me to the fact that there are certain non controllable facts that play a part in a person’s identity as well. Things such as culture, race and family roots, for instance, do make up identifying factors in every persons life, changing and having strong effects on their identity. These factors, however, are only where a person comes from, and how they entered the world. From there, anyone can make themselves into whoever they decide to be. Some may choose to follow their culture with things such as religion and family beliefs. But it is every individual’s personal choice to do so or not.

The “F word” describes the life of Firoozeh Dumas, who was born with a name and into a race which was not socially accepted while she was growing up. In order to change her identity she changed her name to “Julie”. She states that “Because I spoke English without an accent and was known as Julie, people assumed I was American” (pg 62). She was suddenly accepted by her peers, even though they had not accepted her as Firoozeh. She chose to change the name she was born with, and that alone changed her identity to all those around her. Even though she was the same person inside, it gave her an entirely new identity. It also changed her life style, which affected her identity as well. She began changing her daily activities and socializing with people who otherwise wouldn’t have given her the time of day. Suddenly she was getting job offers that she would not have even been considered for previously. Everything around her drastically changed, and all because she chose to change her name, and in tern her identity to others.

There are clearly many factors which make up an individuals identity. It is not black and white and there is certainly not one determining characteristic. That is what is so great about an identity, it can be formulated and manipulated by almost anything, and is so unique that there will never be two alike. Each person in this world chooses how to live their lives, and what to present to others about themselves. Even uncontrollable characteristics can be shaped and altered. An identity can be made into anything desired, and it is because of this, that we are all so unique.

The act of revising

I chose my essay on Identity Vs. Personal choice to show my ability to revise. This was the first essay I had written for the class and I managed to look over many standard guidelines in basic writing. I was able to go through this essay and put those rules into place, as well as work on the flow and content of the essay. There are some things which I kept, such as my opposing argument, which the teachers didn't seem to agree with. I had written the about there being characteristics which people are born into which do uncontrollably effect their identity. What I did do, however, was shape the essay to reflect that I was only stating this to show what can be argued against my essay, and why it is an invalid argument. I feel that when your essay is supposed to show a point, its best to point out what others might see as the hole in the argument, and prove its faults. I, as the author, wanted this to be included, but I took the feedback which I was given to make its place in the essay more acceptable and my point with it more realized.

Freedom Writers

The term "Outsider" cannot be defined by any one characteristic or circumstance.The movie Freedom Writers displays every character as being an outsider in one way or another. For every person, they are an insider to some, but an outsider to everyone else. Mrs. Gruwel and Eva each show this to be true throughout many scenes in the movie.

Mrs. Gruwel has her own life with her husband where she didn't seem to feel like an outsider at all. She knew her place in life, but when she decided to become a teacher her world turned upside down. She seemed to fit in just fine with the teachers when she first started to teach, but this soon changed. She started to protest the way the school was handling situations, and this quickly made her an outsider. Suddenly the teachers wanted nothing to do with her, and even began to publicly fight with her and the activities she was partaking in. This is a scenario where she began an insider, having the same interests and race as the teachers around her, but her actions turned her into an outsider.

In an opposite chain of events, she immediately started out as an outsider to the school kids. Eva even stated that she hated Mrs. Gruwel, because she hates all white people. The students were laughing at her lesson plans and showing her absolutely no respect at all. This slowly began to change over the course of the movie, but only as she was able to teach her students that although they felt like they had it the worst, and the races around them weren't equal, in reality they were all fighting the same battles. As the students began to realize that, they began to accept Mrs. Gruwel and she was no longer the outsider to her students. Their classroom became the first to have a diverse group of children, who all treated each other like equals. They became a family, with not one outsider in the class.

Eva was a student who had a severe hate for other races, especially whites, and would have done anything to protect her own. Her upbringing put a bad taste in her mouth, and caused her to seclude herself to one group of individuals. She was a close insider to all of them, but an outsider to the rest of the world, just as she felt they were an outsider to her. She took this so far, that she almost let her "friend" get away with murder. This all changed, however, when Mrs. Gruwel was able to show the students that just because another person was of a different race, they shared all the same interests and hardships, and in reality are not outsiders at all. Eva finally did the right thing and convicted her friend of the murder, and stood up for a fellow class mate of another race. This is an act that she would have never done, prier to Mrs. Gruwel's class.

The scenarios causing the judgement in this movie are not present everywhere, but there will always be groups and people designated as the outsiders, no matter where you go. I have always seen those kids who sit by themselves in the lunchroom and have no friends to talk to, and they have always been the outsiders. I wish I could go back to High school, so that I could take a minute to talk to these kids and hear a little bit of their life stores. I would be willing to bet that those kids shared at least some of the same interests as me or my friends, and had some of the same hardships etc. They weren't outsiders at all, they just had personality traits which were different than most of the students in my school, but as a person, they deserved just as much respect as anyone else.

There will always be differences in people, as that is what makes us all so greatly unique, and makes every person an individual. This, however, does not make everyone an outcast. If it did, than every single person in this world would be an outsider, and there would be no insiders at all. It is your personality, how you choose to live your life, and how you treat others around you, that defines whether or not you or an outsider to anyone in particular. Not your skin, not the fact that you are quieter than others and therefore don't socialize well, and not the fact that you may not agree with every single thing your peers do. There is not one thing alone that can define an outsider, just as there is not one thing that defines an insider. If everyone were to look closer and dig deeper into the lives of their peers, it may be seen that everyone can be connected in one way or another, and not one single person is a complete outsider

An inspiring writers choice

The movie Freedom Writers was very inspiring to me, and therefore I decided to use my essay written about this movie as my writer’s choice. Also, my ideas and analysis of the events which took place are clearly reiterated throughout the essay. I showed many examples of why an outsider is only an outsider to others, because they won’t take the time to look deeper and see the similarities between themselves and that person. Examples of this include the statement that “Mrs. Gruwel was able to show the students that just because another person was of a different race, they shared all the same interests and hardships.” This sentence was introduced by showing the need for Mrs. Gruwel to show this, and the change it made in the students. This movie was truly inspiring and shows such a wonderful transformation in the characters. This topic and the movie were my favorite part of the class, and therefore I thought it was a great piece for my writer’s choice.

The evolution of tradition

Listening to Does Hair Make the Person? by Bianca Butler brought out many of my own views, that your own personal choices are the most important aspects of your life. Your family traditions certainly play a role, as Bianca states that she was raised to believe that straight hair was something of beauty and to be desired. But here she is, about to enter college in a new location, and wanting to create her own image. She states that she feels she has been brain washed to believe that her hair style is unacceptable and shows unwanted characteristics in a person. College, as many of us know, is the start to a new and independent life. The beginning to the future. Biance should be able to start this journey exactly the way she wishes not letting her traditions depict her path, but choosing it for herself.

Richard Pillsbury's Thoroughly Modern Dining did show the reasons tradition is important. He speaks of holidays such as thanksgiving being spent out at restaurants instead of at home with the entire family, and how that will never be as special or filled with love as a home cooked meal around the table. This does seem to hold some truth, as at home you typically spend the whole day together, preparing food and chatting about past and present stories filling each others lives. At restaurants it is usually to loud to effectively do this, and you are rushed out to make room for the next guests. The ways this tradition has evolved to include so many restaurants does seem to be a shame. So there is truly two sides to consider when thinking about personal choice, or tradition. Each scenario has its own paths and outcomes to consider.

These two stories make it apparent that there are two sides to consider when debating the impact of traditions in today’s modern lives. Some traditions have held strong, others have been molded around today’s life styles, and others have completely faded. With each instance, however, there is a story behind its nature, which explains why it was best for each tradition to take the path it did in the lives of each individual.