Steven Lee
Professor Dinsmore
English 114B
9 May 2012
Reflection
Essay
Identity plays a
huge role for humans; they reflect who you are and your place in society. The
construction of identity is a very thorough process that requires a lot of
thinking. There are different types of identities; it could be influenced
through physical appearance, your heritage and clothing. With the ability to
alter identity, a person’s identity is not usually accurate and during a person’s
teenage years, it is very common to switch identities and express it through
clothing. The concepts of project web,
project space, and project text, shows different ways identity could be
constructed. Identity is the most significant role in life; it separates
everyone by distinguishing their differences.
In
Project Web, the idea of constructing identity through surrogates was a perfect
example because it is a full change from the actual physical appearance. The book, Surrogates
by Robert Vinatti shows a world where surrogates roam the streets by replacing
human interactions to create a better world. The identity that everyone held
was a complete false identity. Reading the graphic novels also brings out the
true nature of society’s role, such as gender roles and the stereotypes of
society. Even though the time frame exist a couple of years from present day ,
the problems are still the same as today.
Project
Space is the idea of how space influences a person’s identity. Space is defined
by the place where you are at. The book, Persipolis
by Marjane Satrapi
is a graphic novel that revolves around a main character named, Marjane, who
lost her grip on her own identity. Her life was destroyed by war and as she
faces the different aspects of space, her sense of style and way of thinking
slowly changed. The thought of how space influences a person’s identity is very
powerful, for example a person’s identity would change when they are surrounded
by a majority of a different culture. He would then become a minority. This
kind of feeling makes a person feel uncomfortable with the atmosphere because
they are not affiliated with the others. This could relate to Persepolis in
many ways because she lived in a whole different environment where she was the
minority who came from a completely different country. The space affected her
thoughts a lot and caused her identity to shift. Marjane’s identity in Iran is
different compared to her identity in Vienna, Austria.
The
book “As Nature Made Him “, is used in Project Text. The idea of changing a
person’s idea by testing the theory of Nature vs. Nurture is brought out into
reality as scientists and psychologists battle out the idea of how a child’s
mind is constructed. David Reimer was the result of a failed experiment after
he lost his penis through a failed circumcision. The idea of changing a
person’s identity through appearance was not possible because scientist believe
that gender is written in the gene. Dr. Money did not believe this theory was
true, and he was blinded by the cost of human sanity, and caused the
destruction of David Reimer’s childhood and life.
Identity
is a broad subject to explore, and there are various ways to alter identity.
Identity is used in every aspect of nature and the modern world. For example, we
use identity as a first impression, because a person judges another person’s
identity based on their appearance. Being able to identify yourself in society
is way to keep your sanity and to help know your place in the world. To serve a
purpose in the world is to be identified by who you are and how you are
portrayed.
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