...Although divided by political borders, lifestyle, and differences in ideology, settlers throughout the British colonies were unified by their shared identity as Americans and struggle for independence from Britain. The former of these developed first, albeit slowly, as settlers distanced themselves from their English roots. From this attitude emerged the new Americans’ desire for independence. This happened because, as they became more comfortable in their new land, they became increasingly discontent with their disenfranchisement in the British government. They were of course a part of the British empire, as its government created the colonies’ laws and provided aid, but the colonists were not given proper representation in their own government,...
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...Teen films offer relatable stories that reflect the culture of American youth. The film plots are of dramatic struggles such as social status differences, first loves and the struggle of identity. Teen films are not a true reflection of reality; but a small point of a real experience used and over dramatized for entertainment value. In teen films, there are two influences that can become a teen’s enemy, their peers, and figures of authority. On, the surface peers and their interactions seem to have a strong influence during the teen/ high school period, which cause them to act or react to their environment. When, closely studied we find that a teen's underlying motives prove that figures of authority have more of a lasting influence beginning during their formative years proving more...
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...Struggle for Identity: American Born Chinese Asian American students today are faced with the issue of identity in the American society. They are faced with this issue because of their unfamiliar background to the American society. They want to fit-in and become accepted in school’s diverse environment. The graphic novel, American Born Chinese by Gene Yang, exemplifies the issue of Asian American students search for identity in the American society. He wanted to target teenager that are struggling to find an identity and acceptance in school. To target Asian American students, Yang uses the stories of three different characters: Monkey King, Danny, and Jin Wang. Each character in the story faces the issue of finding an identity and acceptance. Yang mostly focused on the story of Jin Wang because his Chinese background constantly plagues him. Jin tries to do everything to fit-in with the American students. He tries to conceal his Chinese background, and tries to change his appearance. In the end, he learns to accept his Chinese background; therefore, finding his identity and acceptance. Yang wanted to show that accepting yourself is the key to unlocking your identity and finding acceptance in the American society. Yang wanted Asian American students to connect with his book by strategically converging the three stories, negative experience of characters, and negative stereotypes to show that accepting themselves will allow them to find their identity and acceptance in the...
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...The Struggle With Identity The element of identity is exposed in the novel Rebecca by: Daphne Du Maurier. Identity is something that can make or break someone. As a highschooler, I can see people trying to have an identity that actually does not belong to them. This term can be referenced to as an identity crisis. This all boils down to being insecure about yourself. Identity and Insecurity can go hand and hand with each other, if someone is not careful. The narrator in this novel experienced an identity crisis, within herself. She felt threatened by Rebecca her husband's late wife ,who is remembered as being beautiful. Even though Rebecca, was no longer alive she thinks she has to live up to who Rebecca was. The narrator felt as if she was inferior to Rebecca, as his first wife and as a person. By the narrator not even having a name, we see the struggle with an identity. This hurts...
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...Introduction The book Chinese Cinderella is the tragic, moving autobiography of a young Chinese girl, Adeline Yen Mah. The book details her struggle for acceptance among her family, after they blamed her for the death of her mother during childbirth, as per Chinese culture. It follows Adeline through from the age of 4 in the French concession territory in the Tianjin province to her departure to England at the age of 13, starting in the year 1938 amidst the second Sino-Japanese War. It details her conflicts with the main antagonist of her life, her half Chinese, half French stepmother, Niang, as well as celebrates her success in her academics, which Adeline discovers will please her father. Throughout her many challenges, we see that Adeline’s...
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...To what extent do you agree that Angelou’s poetry presents the female struggle for identity more effectively than the male struggle? Angelou writes from many different viewpoints, the main one tending to be from a female perspective. The poem ‘men’ focuses on the admiration and vulnerability a woman may feel towards a man – ‘they knew I was there. Fifteen years old and starving for them.’ By saying ‘they knew I was there’ shows the reader that everywhere the young girl goes men are constantly watching her, looking for her even with the age that she is at. ‘Starving’ is a sense of desperation for something, in this case the young girl may want sexual experience this links to a later line ‘it is your juice’ this is also a simile, which may connote to the physical point, referring to a sexual encounter. However, with the sentence being short it shows us that a lack of detachment was there this also relates back to the young girl wanting experience. Angelou portrayed to us the image of a young girl struggling for identity due to want of a man’s touch, making the female struggle more effective than a man’s struggle. Whereas, in the poem ‘Willie’ Angelou shows the struggle for a man’s identity in a more negative view than the girl in ‘men’. During the poem it states that people call him ‘uncle’ ‘boy’ and ‘hey’ this shows us that Willie does not have a true identity to anybody – meaning nobody actually knows him, suggesting to the reader that he is on his own and has no body. This...
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...Justin Nguyen Mrs. Williams English 1 Honors/ Period 3 4 November, 2014 Social and Cultural Identity: How it can shape us. Erik Erikson once said, “In the social jungle of human existence, there is no feeling of being alive without a sense of identity.” I believed that Erickson wanted us to know that everyone should have an identity either socially or culturally. Social identity distinguishes you from everyone else by what you say and what you do. Cultural identity also paints an image to others about how you are excited about a culture or a belief and how you will interact with it. Experiences are important to us because it is something that allows society to see both of your identities. My experiences are similar to Beneatha in A Raisin...
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...It is very important for people to know to know their true identity for many reasons. One of those reasons happens to be behavior, because a person’s actions revolve around that person’s beliefs, which reflect on their true identity. Another reason why a person should their true identity is because of friendship, which is a huge thing in life. A person’s true identity shows what groups they hang out in, and it determines whether that person is “fake”, which means that person acts a certain way to certain people, but that person does not want to act that way. Hercules and April struggle with finding their identities because they have not realized what benefits come from knowing your identity, and they just want to fit in with everyone else, which is not always a good thing. Other than the fact that they both struggle to find their true identity, Hercules and April have many similarities. One of those similarities has to do with everyone’s common struggle, and that is fitting in....
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...formation of identity and the gradual development of personal esteem. Despite the ubiquitous nature of lingua franca such as the English language, people who are conscious of their indigenous identity are keen to incorporate aspects of their mother tongue in common languages. However, not all individuals feel proud of expressing their forms of synthesized language. The relationship between cultural identity and language is mutual. Language plays a vital role in placing an individual in an appropriate societal position (Val and Vinogradova 2). Amy Tan’s “Mother Tongue and Anzaldua Gloria’s, “How to Tame a Wild Tongue” are exquisite examples of the formation of language and cultural identities due to interactions with American culture. A comparative analysis of both texts can reveal that each author...
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...cultural norms. A struggle that can be universally understood is the theme of having no place of belonging in a male dominated society. This...
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...sense of who they are? Identity crisis, a term created by renowned psychologist Eric Erikson, is a cycle of time used for the analysis of ourselves and searching for our true values and path for our identity. Psychologist James Marcia expanded on Erikson’s self-identity work and “believed that certain situations and events (called "crises") serve as catalysts prompting movement along this continuum and through the various identity statuses” (Oswalt, 2010). But while a fair percentage of individuals go through this process of crisis and self-realization, not every person goes through a crisis or has a set idea of the role they wish to play in their lives. There are four statuses of identity...
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...history and different issues that exist and are relevant to our society then and now. And Jun Robles Lana, director and writer of the film, is able to excellently do this with the addition of laughs and just the right amount of drama. The film depicts two kinds of struggles experienced by the Filipinos during the time of Marcos. One is a personal kind of struggle, and the other is social struggle. These were deliberately seen in the film, and were excellently paralleled, through two main factors: thirst for identity and freedom, and fear. The first factor was the thirst for identity and freedom. The film was able to successfully show the personal struggle that women went through with the use of its different characters. There was a prostitute, which everyone knows is someone seen as someone very low in the society. There was another who was a mother who was shown in the film who was almost always pregnant for she had a husband who always thirsted for sexual actions. In addition, one was a battered wife who, in spite of always getting hit by his husband, continues to hold on to their marriage. These characters were those who were close to the main character of the story, Marilou, who most exemplified personal struggle. Even at the start of the film, it was very seen that she was merely a slave of her barber husband. Even when she decided to carry on the job of a barber after her husband died, no one in their village trusted her to be able to carry the task well, for she...
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...effects of English linguistic imperialism can be found in a plethora of countries, but they are mostly evident in countries that adopt official language policies to encourage the use of English in order to position themselves closer to the Western world. That is the case of Turkey which has favored English teaching and usage since the late 19th century (Doğançay-Aktuna and Kiziltepe 254-257). Furthermore, this official language policy and its consequences are most noticeable in academia, an environment where English has become an essential tool for participating in the international scientific community. This essay will discuss the case of Turkey as a country that has been directly impacted by English linguistic imperialism, resulting in a struggle between the economic benefits of expanding English usage, and the existence of a nationalist agenda for which the Turkish language is an essential pillar. The English language was first introduced in the Ottoman Empire by British traders in the early 19th century. A few decades later, its expansion took a leap when Christian missionaries established English schools along the shore of the Bosphorus (Zok 2). A parallel...
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...identifies as transgender is complex and challenging. In today’s America, when a person’s gender identity, gender expression or sexual orientation deviates from their biological make-up, they are at risk of rejection or physical harm. Many will struggle with the challenges as a result of a world that medicalizes and stigmatizes gender non-conformity. The transgender population needs more understanding, support and protection as they face the many psychological, social and economic issues during their life time. Our Federal and State governments are reluctant to pass laws that protect the rights of transgender people. Far too often, given this lack of legal protection, society is able to discriminate against...
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...The House on Mango Street is a coming of age story about a young Mexican-American girl named Esperanza, who struggles to figure out who her real self is. Such as, self-definition, ethnicity, language, and economic status. All these factors play a role in which she learns that what defines her is her ability to tell stories. Her writing allows her to express those aspects of her life and allow her to step out of her comfort zone about her background and how she feels towards defining herself. A common theme in House on Mango Street is the struggle of identity. Esperanza has to define herself both as a woman and as an artist, which changes throughout the novel. In the beginning of the novel Esperanza wants to separate herself from her family and heritage by changing...
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