What Make's Up One's Identity?
04/11/2010
Thesis statement; There are a great deal of factors that altogether form one’s identity, the most relevant and main ones are culture, which includes nationality as well as religion, intellect, personality, and world exposure.
I. Culture is a crucial factor when it comes to forming one’s identity. A. The characteristics of our country of origin. * The power that our nationality has on our person. * The language, our culinary traditions, clothing etc. B. Religion. * The values. * The traditions.
II. Ways of interpreting situations and our personality, strongly mirror who we are. A. The elements that formed our intellect. * Education and upbringing. * Political views, as well as other ideas concerning society’s organization. B. The social attributes we gain. * The individuals in our surroundings. * The experiences we go through.
III. The strong impact of travelling on our identity. A. Eye-openers that broaden our minds. * The new cultures we integrate. * The new people we meet and their influence on our personality. B. Developing a sense of belonging to more than one culture. * The process of becoming a “halfie”.
Merriam Webster’s online dictionary defines identity as “the distinguishing character or personality of an individual”, which is undoubtedly true. Firstly there is culture, in other words, the land we feel we belong in and the characteristics that come with belonging to this particular country. Seldom do people remember to include one’s personality in the definition of his or hers identity. However, it is extremely important because it is precisely what distinguishes us from our compatriots; otherwise our identity would not be uniquely ours, but the one of everyone from the same land. Moreover, it should not be forgotten that identity is permanently subject to change, whether it be through travelling or new experiences. The combination of all these factors are what forms
Thesis statement; There are a great deal of factors that altogether form one’s identity, the most relevant and main ones are culture, which includes nationality as well as religion, intellect, personality, and world exposure.
I. Culture is a crucial factor when it comes to forming one’s identity. A. The characteristics of our country of origin. * The power that our nationality has on our person. * The language, our culinary traditions, clothing etc. B. Religion. * The values. * The traditions.
II. Ways of interpreting situations and our personality, strongly mirror who we are. A. The elements that formed our intellect. * Education and upbringing. * Political views, as well as other ideas concerning society’s organization. B. The social attributes we gain. * The individuals in our surroundings. * The experiences we go through.
III. The strong impact of travelling on our identity. A. Eye-openers that broaden our minds. * The new cultures we integrate. * The new people we meet and their influence on our personality. B. Developing a sense of belonging to more than one culture. * The process of becoming a “halfie”.
Merriam Webster’s online dictionary defines identity as “the distinguishing character or personality of an individual”, which is undoubtedly true. Firstly there is culture, in other words, the land we feel we belong in and the characteristics that come with belonging to this particular country. Seldom do people remember to include one’s personality in the definition of his or hers identity. However, it is extremely important because it is precisely what distinguishes us from our compatriots; otherwise our identity would not be uniquely ours, but the one of everyone from the same land. Moreover, it should not be forgotten that identity is permanently subject to change, whether it be through travelling or new experiences. The combination of all these factors are what forms
Cited: “Identity”. Merriam-Webster online dictionary. Merriam-Webster Online, 2008. Web. 14th Nov 2010. Coles, Robert. “I Listen to my Parents and I Wonder What they Believe”. The McGraw-Hill Reader: Issues Across the Disciplines. Gilbert H.Muller. Ed. McGraw Hill 8th edition Boston: 1982 El-Katatney, Ethar “Identity Crisis 101”. Egypt Today online. May 8th 2008. Egypttoday.com. Web. 3rd Nov 2010. Hall, Edward T. “The Arab World”. Shades of Gray: A reader for Academic Writing. Ed. Zane Sinno, Rima Rantisi, Ghassan Zeineddine, Natalie Honein, Jasmina Najjar. 2nd ed. Great Britain: Pearson Education Limited, 2008. (pages 89 to 90). Print. Maalouf, Amin “Deadly Identities”. Shades of Gray: A reader for Academic Writing. Ed. Zane Sinno, Rima Rantisi, Ghassan Zeineddine, Natalie Honein, Jasmina Najjar. 2nd ed. Great Britain: Pearson Education Limited, 2008. (page 1) Print.