Essays on Personal Identity

The dictionary definition of identity is the characteristics determining who or what a person or thing is. My personal definition of identity is similar but I believe it is characteristics that separate each person from each person. My identity is affected by many things such...

Throughout our childhood and young adulthood, we are constantly trying to figure out who we are and what purpose we have. If that is trying new things left and right in the hopes of figuring out what you want to be or if that’s throwing...

Identity is based on many factors and can have a variety of meanings based on the person and their perception of the word identity. One of the main ways people identify is based on past experiences. We wouldn’t be anywhere without our pasts, everyone has...

Defined by the Stanford Encyclopaedia of Philosophy, personal identity is the subject that deals with the philosophical questions that stem out about oneself as a result of that person being human. Personal identity is a complex cocktail of different components that are always being stirred...

There’s nothing like going home for a homecooked meal with the loved ones, especially for the holidays. Unfortunately, not everyone has the luxury of a place to call home. Being homeless is a negative experience. People may ask about the others that travel all the...

Tatum rationalises that one’s identity is moulded by many components in one’s life and falls back on how one is perceived by others. Tatum explains that each component of our identity differentiate us because we are constantly identified through our race, ethnicity, gender, and more....

“Who am I?”, “Who are we?”, “What am I?” and “What are we?”. These are 4 of the most prevalent questions asked throughout from the time humans have been able to think and discern. And for eons, we have tried to answer them through literature,...

The play “Trying to Find Chinatown” published in 1996 by David H. Hwang describes two strangers who happen to argue in the middle of the street in New York. Ronnie an Asian American male who identifies himself as a musician and Benjamin a Caucasian who...

The Joy Luck Club is a novel first published by Amy Tan in 1989. The 4 mothers portray in the book have all shared painful and heartbroken memories back in the days in China during the Japanese occupation. All 4 of them fled to America...

Identity is essentially who a person is, the way he thinks about himself, the way he is viewed by the world and the characteristics that define him, however in the novel these factors can vary and increase with each character, identity is unique to each...

Literary texts are a pervasive medium for expressing opinion about the human condition and, as a result, common moral and ethical messages are found across a diverse range of stories. The novels Me and Earl and the Dying Girl and Kafka on the Shore are...

Introduction The Wave (1981) directed by Alex Grasshoff is a short film based on a 1967 social experiment in Palo Alto, California. The purpose of this one-week experiment was to teach students about fascism during the Second World War and demonstrate how the German populace...

There are approximately 7.7 billion human beings around the world. So what sets me apart from others? It is my identity that sets me apart from others. I think of it as singular (male) and multifaceted (family identity). To me family identity means a socially...

Personal self-concept inventory My mood and feelings are very variable all-day long. I am usually very quiet when I wake up and start doing my daily tasks. As I am living in Canada and far away from my family, so I really get very happy...

Exercise is a method often implemented by health professionals within western civilisation, who aim to combat the increasing number of people suffering from conditions such as heart disease and obesity. I have developed an awareness of the role exercise plays in maintaining the health of...

Sun streaked blonde hair, and ocean blue eyes. I remember praying that one day that I would look like the rest of my friends. While growing up, I mostly attended Caucasian schools and was surrounded by American pop culture. However at the same time it...

How do we explain the behaviour of groups towards each other? We use the social identity theory of course. Also, for understanding the behaviour and cognition of individuals in respect of their social/collectivist contexts – more like African Psychology – and to put the collectivist...

In Native Speaker by Chang-Rae Lee, Luzan asks Henry, “Who, my young friend, have you been all your life?” (205). It is through the narrative form that Luzan is able to see beyond Henry’s words. Luzan urges Henry “to take up story-forms” (206), and as...

“These are the myths I tell about my family and, like all myths, they are both truths and lies, simultaneous buffers of love and betrayals of trust.” (Hsu-Ming Teo 1) Love and Vertigo is a contemporary autobiographical novel that maps the lineage of the speaker...

Identity is not something that can simply be explained in a few words. There is a variety of factors that can make up someone’s identity – family, friends, culture, environment, hobbies, interests, and gender are just a few. Many people use these factors to self-identify....

In an oft-cited review of Alice Munro’s fourth published collection, critic John Gardner asks a pertinent question regarding “whether The Beggar Maid is a collection of stories or a new kind of novel.” While this question is not only germane, but even imperative to interpretation...

The thoughtful formation of identity is a significant part of Hailsham life, and as a narrator, Kathy shares her doubts while consciously searching for the aspects of her personality that could answer her queries about her life at Hailsham. Kathy’s search is divided into her...

Storytelling is central to the human condition, connecting individuals by conveying universal concepts such as female oppression, which transcend both time and social context to bring audiences to recognise the continuation of such issues. Atwood’s dystopian novel The Handmaid’s Tale (1985) explores the powerful role...

In the last few decades technology has been improving dramatically, from the old clunky plastic computers with super slow internet service and limited information on the web and basic games such as pong, to today’s super-fast constantly updating smartphones, watches, laptops, desktops, home devices, and...

A person’s understanding of their gender is identified either by the assigned sex at birth or is an influence they had by their beliefs. By most of society, gender is divided into two main categories, male and female, being masculine or feminine. There are people...

Culture, one of the most ambiguous words in the dictionary, is seen in day-to-day life no matter where you are or what you’re doing. It can be considered to be the “outline” of life. Culture consists of different values, beliefs, and practices that many see...

From the age of pre-school into adolescence and even adulthood an individual’s identity along with their self-conception are ever-changing and advancing, alternating and developing. Founded of cognitive ability, a feeling of individuality greatly hinges on numerous life encounters. Important elements in advancement encompass many hereditary...

Social psychologists have long been engaged with the question how individuals construct and understand their identities. Through theories, they have tried to explain the interdependence of humans in this process of understanding and construction. Freud explains the relationship between the true identity and the performed...

The media uses the imagery system which forms the core of modern media to influence consumer’s emotions and behavior. The contemporary world operates in the realms of popular mainstream media where products and services representation is pervasive, manipulative and meant to influence the emotions and...

In chapter XXVII of the essay Identity and Diversity, the author John Locke discusses numerous types of identities and provides multiple examples for these identities. However, to understand identity and its many components we must first grasp the concept of identity itself as understood by...