...Identity Assignment (25 points) Objective: To better understand how music reflects personal and social identities of an individual or group. Requirements: Write a 700–1000 word essay (roughly three pages) discussing a particular song or composition that you feel best expresses your personal and social identity. Include a tape or CD (label it with your name) of the example along with your essay. DUE DATE: To be announced _______________________________________________________________________ Music is a manifestation of the personal and social identities of an individual or group. The function of the music, the structure of it, the context in which it is performed, etc., all reflect the cultural environment that surrounds a musical performance and indicate significant values of the people who create it. Recognizing and understanding how music reflects the identity of a community is an important means of “getting to know” other people and how music expresses “who they are.” I want to “get to know you” and discover what music says about “who you are.” As music majors, I assume that you consider music an important element of your life. Undoubtedly, most of you listen to many kinds of music, i.e., classical, rock, rap, gamelan(?). Your task is to choose ONE example of music that you feel best expresses the many facets of YOU, i.e., your identity. This will prove more difficult than you think if you put some thought into it. Don't tell me what music means to you, explain how the example...
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...Homosexuality from a New Perspective Sexuality means many different things to different people, especially sexuality of a homosexual nature. Everyone has their own personal ideologies about sexuality, many of which have been forced on us by mainstream society's portrayal of what of is right or wrong. Bersani's objective is to take these societal sexual idiosyncrasies and turn them upside down to reveal how he feels gay male sex should be. In Bersani's article, Is the Rectum a Grave?, he entertains ideas of the self, sexuality (especially homosexuality), and power. Bersani believes that abolishing the self opens many options sexually and psychologically. He rejects conventional ideologies pertaining to sexuality like gender, identity and inequality but proposes new ways of thinking about sex and ones sexual identity by showing the reader new and unusual ways of viewing homosexuality and sexuality in general. In the article, Bersani discusses "the self" and that it should be eradicated. The following is what Bersani thinks of "the self": It is the self that swells with excitement at the idea of being on top, the self that makes of the inevitable play of thrusts and relinquishments in sex an argument for the natural authority of one sex over the other. This quote displays Bersani's thoughts of how one's self controls the way they have been trained to think. The self is formed through a lifetime's worth of experiences, actions, lessons, and just living in the world...
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...Short Story Essay Prompt Essay Due: Monday 10/15 at the beginning of class (100 points) Please write a 4-5 page essay. All papers should be typed, double-spaced, 12-point font (Times New Roman), with one-inch margins. All papers must analyze how the rhetorical/formal/symbolic/narrative elements of the short story contribute to your understanding of the text. Please review these terms from your literary terms quiz and your class notes to remind yourself how authors deploy them in the stories. Please choose one of the following topics. Note: I ask a lot of questions within each of the topics because I want to give you many options to consider; however, this does not mean that you have to answer all the sub-questions. Use them as guides to jumpstart your thinking. 1. Hawthorne’s “Young Goodman Brown” Poe’s “The Tell-Tale Heart,” Jewett’s “A White Heron,” Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper” and O’Brien’s “The Things They Carried” track a particular symbol throughout the short story. Focusing on one of these stories, show how the author uses the development of the symbol in order to reflect the demise or spiritual growth of the main characters. Hint: for “The Things They Carried, you can focus on the word carry rather than on a specific individual symbol. 2. Poe’s “The Tell-Tale Heart” and Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper” are both narrated by unreliable narrators who go crazy. Focusing on one of these stories, how does the author portray insanity? How does the insanity...
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... | Copyright © © 2011, 2007, 2006 by University of Phoenix. All rights reserved. Course Description This course explores business and the workplace through imaginative literature and essays. Students may study poems, plays, short stories, and essays with themes or story lines that emanate from the workplace. Students will read, interpret, and analyze the literature while responding to the connections between occupation and personal identity and the connections between the social and personal significance of their relationship with work. Students will note and discuss trends in society that are illustrated by business and workplace attitudes and portrayed in literature. Policies Faculty and students/learners will be held responsible for understanding and adhering to all policies contained within the following two documents: • University policies: You must be logged into the student website to view this document. • Instructor policies: This document is posted in the Course Materials forum. University policies are subject to change. Be sure to read the policies at the beginning of each class. Policies may be slightly different depending on the modality in which you attend class. If you have recently changed modalities, read the policies governing your...
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...Introduction Tips for writing essays 2 3 15 Essay 1: ‘Vincent’s fulfilment of his dream seems to be the triumph of individualism but really rests on the support and cooperation of other people.’ Discuss. 17 Essay 2: ‘The characters in Gattaca are too caught up in private dreams and personal ambitions for genuine relationships to be possible.’ Discuss. Essay 3: “That’s how I did it, Anton. I never saved anything for the swim back.” ‘Vincent defies and transcends his destiny and, in doing this, inspires others.’ Discuss. Essay 4: ‘Gattaca shows that categorising people into a hierarchy of castes, into ‘superior’ and ‘imperfect/inferior’, is both false and dangerous.’ How? Essay 5: ‘Gattaca shows that the rights of a person surpass the need for control within a society.’ Discuss. Essay 6: ‘Gattaca’s director, Andrew Niccol, said: “I would hate for anyone to look at my film and think it is advocating that you never tamper with genes, because there … will be many positive things to come out of this … science in terms of curing diseases”.‘ So what is Gattaca condemning? Essay 7: ‘Gattaca presents a world destroyed by the pursuit of perfection.’ Do you agree? Essay 8: ‘The society of Gattaca works to repress rather than to enhance the potential of human beings.’ Discuss. 22 27 31 36 40 45 50 Essay 9: “I belong to a new underclass, no longer determined by social status or the colour of your skin. No, we now have discrimination down to a science.” Does Gattaca show discrimination...
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...Favorite Essay Of the many styles and topics of writing my English course has reviewed; the reading I found most interesting was “Being a Man” by Paul Theroux. The essay was over Theroux not liking the masculine identity or being a man in general. I enjoyed Theroux’s essay because he goes straight for the point and the topic was very controversial. Theroux’s essay is about how difficult it is to be a man in America. Men are generalized to be tough, sport crazy and unemotional. I believe that generalization is still common but has deteriorated over the decade. Theroux thinks the way children are brought up is wrong, just because a boy does not like sports does not mean there is something wrong with him. From personal experience, I know that not every little boy likes sports or has the opportunity to be active in sports. I grew up in a small apartment with my father, mother and sister. Living in a room with my sister was very hard to deal with. I had a Nintendo 64 and she had Barbie dolls. There was nowhere to play sports and no place to keep the equipment. We made do with the things we had; I sometimes enjoyed taking the Barbie dolls clothing off and she would play the Mario Brothers. Eventually moving into a house allowed me to be active in football, soccer and baseball. I believe the child’s surroundings can change their path to adulthood. Theroux expresses many things that I find insulting. According to Theroux, to be a man is to be “stupid, be unfeeling, obedient,...
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...If you were to ask an individual what their perception of the self is, you would get a variety of answers but mainly along the lines of, the self is an inner being that one possesses. For many years philosophers have attempted to find the answer of what exactly is the self and how it relates to the brain and mind. There are two important philosophers I will discuss in this essay; whose ideas and thoughts vary in comparison to what the knowledge of a self is. Descartes and Locke are two philosophers that have many thoughts and concepts to offer towards self, identity, and consciousness. Rene Descartes, commonly known as the “Father of Philosopher” seeks to find if the self exists. In Meditations on First Philosophy, he meditates on various...
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...they are, not a scattered and forgotten people. They all face a new struggle, a struggle to find their identity. "Identity- who we are, where we come from, what we are- is difficult to maintain in exile. Most other people take their identity for granted. Not the Palestinian, who is required to show proofs of identity more or less constantly." (Page 546) Said, being Palestinian himself, tells us this story in what was called a "hybrid" type of writing. He does this by letting the pictures take precedence in telling his story but then describes each picture by going back and forth from a history point of view, to his own recollections of his childhood. The way he describes each picture makes you feel as if you were at one time in that picture and can feel an emotional connection to it. Through each photo, we get a really sense of what it is like to be Palestinian, to have it all taken away and how they started new. The way Said puts the story together without any time frame, is an example of why his writing style was described as a hybrid. He will start with describing a picture by telling us facts about his country and then interrupt himself, like he's actually have a conversation with the reader and tell us a memory, or how that particular photo makes him feel. By writing like this, he makes the reader able to feel comfortable enough and be able to really relate to what Said feels and thinks. It's almost as if he chose all of the photographs first, photographs that really...
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...CLT 209 Final Essay Discuss the impact of media on gender identity. Madalen Smith 11473441 Who are we? Who do we want to be? These are questions that have plagued people globally since the beginning of time. Our whole life is dedicated to developing our identity- one that we are happy with and feel reflects whom we are inside. But what influences our identity? And to what extent? We are constantly interacting with media. Subsequently we are continuously absorbing meaning and information whether we realise it or not. This essay focuses on gender identity and the impact the media can have on it. As individuals grow and seek to cultivate and define their identity, is media influencing their thoughts and views? This essay seeks to show that whilst media does in fact play a vital role in how individuals and society view gender the final decision regarding ones gender identity, is something that comes from within. Media both presents ideas and reflects societies already held values. Media does impact on what we view as acceptable for each gender, and what an individual may feel is the norm for their gender, but only to a certain extent. Ultimately gender is something that is felt within the individual and cannot be manipulated by outside things. Media plays a significant role in contemporary societies everyday life. The rapid technological developments that have taken place during the twentieth century has resulted in media becoming prevalent in almost all daily aspects of...
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...statement. Ngugi (1986) argues that language and identity are inseparable, and that a global language robs people of their identities. I however believe that language does in a way guide how we perceive the world but it in no means defines who we are. Identity as explained by Gervais-Lambony (2006) develops over time and is shaped from our social experiences. Identity is not fixed and can change over time to how we want people to perceive us. In this discussion I shall argue against Ngugi’s statement by drawing from readings that opposes what Ngugi says. Ngugi (1986) feels that English was forced upon him and that his home language and his culture were taken away. For Ngugi identity, culture and language are closely linked. Therefore he feels that if one’s language is taken away so is your identity. An author that agrees with his statements is Appiah (1999) who has a strong traditional sense of what it means to be an African. Appiah uses the word tribe when he speaks of identity ( Appiah 1999: 42 ) “ a tribe is thought of as a group of people who are descended from common ancestors and ruled by a chief , who share a single culture including language and religion”. Ngugi and Appiah do not believe that there is any choice in identity, they believe that identity is fixed. On the contrary Kamwangamalu (2004) argues that one can choose your identity depending on what you want to achieve. I agree with Kamwangamalu that identity is dynamic and that us as individuals can choose how...
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...Island, Brooklyn Bridge, Downtown, Times Square, JFK: Colson Whitehead’s essays tunnel into the heart of New York City, revealing it to be both a bastion of cruelty and an alluring symbol of hope, both an executioner of dreams and a mother of new beginnings. Whitehead writes about the city as if it were human, and about its people as if they were buildings. Yet these personifications constantly interchange. Whitehead never represents living beings as wholly mechanical, or the city as wholly human. The key to this interchange lies in the way Whitehead projects his own reality upon the city, and his own multifaceted identity upon the legions of anonymous selves that populate the city’s streets. Whitehead’s constant creation and re-creation of characters and metaphors reveal a fear of being held to one identity, to one existence. And behind this urge to escape a solidified selfhood lies a desire to evade the confines of time, the inevitability of death. This yearning marks where our version of reality and Whitehead’s version overlap. It is the one immutable monument in a city of constantly shifting perceptions. From the very beginning, Whitehead dismantles the vision of New York as a glittering, perfect metropolis. He writes about New York as a complex force rather than a commercialized idea, as a being capable of doling out both salvation and destruction. In “City Limits,” Whitehead notes the “You Can Make It There” mythology of New York with a wry smile and a jaded observation:...
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...Don’t forget page numbers and header with last name on each page (Top Right Corner, not bottom) Tulio Barros You need an MLA header: Name Prof name Class description date In immigrant families, family traditions and the struggle for one’s independence re-shape the parent-child relationship. People who grow up in a country that is foreign to them often break family tradition as they grow to have different goals and standards than that of their parents. By breaking tradition and seeking their own goals, people form their own identity. Children who have immigrant parents will always have different goals and traditions than their parents? Maxine Hong Kingston, a Chinese-American, breaks her traditional mold by publishing a story that her mother told Maxine never to speak about to anyone, especially not her father. In No Name Woman quotes not italics Maxine’s mother opens the story by warning her “[y]ou must not tell anyone,” mother said, “what I am about to tell you. In China your father had a sister who killed herself. She jumped into the family well. We say your father has all brothers because it is as if she had never been born” (29). In Maxine’s family, the tradition her mother wants her to follow is that of not speaking about a tragedy that happened on the father’s side of the family. As demented as it is to tell a daughter what she just did, it is more traditionally important to her mother that Maxine not break the silence and speak on this matter, however...
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...Philo Essay For my third assignment, I will be discussing my views on personal identity and how the different traits and factors among individuals make us who we are today. So, when it comes to an individual’s personal identity, I think that there are several different traits and factors that make each and every one of us unique and somewhat different from everybody else. While there are some people that have a lot of similarities in common, I don’t think that really determines who you are as a person or your personal identity. I’ll explain to why I think that there is a difference between everybody when it comes to their own personal identity. First of all, I will discuss my view on what I think personal identity is. Everything influences a person’s identity; their families, religion, where they live and even their culture. It is what makes you the person that you are today. Your personal Identity is even based off every decision that you have made in your past or the experiences you have been through. As an individual gets older, every aspect in their life will influence that person’s responsibilities, morals, humor, sports, the music they like and much more. Those are only a few things that make an individual’s true personal identity. I think that personal identity represents who we are as individuals. Everything from the way that we talk, walk, look and what we wear and to how an individual’s environment and surroundings forms them as well. With this said, understanding...
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...passing the CPA exam on the first try herself, she decided that she would like to help those who want to take the CPA exam pass on their first try as well. And so she developed a business and marketing plan, convened with various professors to create a comprehensive curriculum, and opened her firm's doors. Instead of the normal review route of using books, software, or online courses, she provided a full service 6 week, 3-6 hours a day review regimen for her clients that include one hour live lectures from various professors, discussions about test taking skills and organizational skills to digest information faster, provided audiotapes that the clients can listen to at home or in their cars, executed timed mini tests as well as practice essay questions, one on one bi weekly client meeting to see how they've progressed and for them to ask questions, and a direct line to her via e mail for any queries the clients may have. She Even guaranteed a repeat course if any of them failed. All of this she offered for 1100. Her passing rates are quite high, although most of her students are second takers. But now she is having problems about her impact on the market, which she currently has 10% of, thanks to her primary competitor NTC, whose long standing reputation and variety of review courses offers attracts tons of...
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...Living between Two Cultures It has been almost nine years since I arrived from Mexico to the United States. Integrating these two unique cultures has been a wonderful experience. For immigrants in the United States culture differences can be difficult and complicate. Assimilating two separate cultures is an ongoing challenge. In this essay, I will describe the issues many immigrants face in regards to diversity, stereotyping, preserving self identity and personal values. America is nation that is populated with a culturally diverse group of people. The United States has welcomed more immigrants than any other country. The steady stream of people coming to America has had a profound effect on the evolution of American society. America is known as the land of the free and people from all over the world are attracted by promise of opportunity and success. It is not easy for those who move to the United States from other countries. It takes a lot of courage and sacrifice to leave your homeland and come to a new country, but the prospect of a better life makes the risk worth taking. Immigrants who come to America enrich the country by bringing aspects of their native cultures with them. For example, Hispanic Americans celebrate their culture with street fairs and other festivities on Cinco de Mayo. Other cultures, such as African Americans celebrate both Kwanzaa, a festival drawn from African rituals. As the population of the United States becomes more diverse its people are...
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