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Creating an Identity

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Submitted By lilvick9996
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Pages 6
Michael Zalvin
Prof. Jennifer Crane
QU101
9/13/10

Creating An Identity

In Dreams from My Father by Barack Obama he talks about his life experiences and how it formed him as a human being. The story also shows his interpretation of what a solid community should consist of, as well as how individuals should interact with each other within the community. Through out his life he was discovering who he was by new meeting people and trying new things. An individual’s identity is formed through life experiences and cannot be sustained because it is ever changing. A community is a group of people that are brought together by friends, family, neighbors, and people with common interests. Communities are important because it gives people a sense of belonging and being wanted. And in Dreams From My Father, those were the needs and values that Barack was searching for. Communities are sustained through shared values, trust, loyalty, and a sense of safety. In a community people have moral responsibilities to other people and the community as a whole. Communities have moral responsibilities to their individual members because they need to keep their community together. Sometimes you get put into situations where you want to look out for yourself rather than the big picture with the community. You have to be able to put others in front of you sometimes so that you can avoid these types of conflicts.

My favorite excerpt from the text came when his father was insulted by a man who said that he would not “drink next to a nigger.” (Obama 25) Barrack’s father did not get hot headed and cause a commotion but went up to the man and talked to him about morals and respecting other people. By the time he was done with the man, he apologized and bought drinks for them for the rest of the night. Through your actions and the way you conduct yourself, defines you as an

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