Identity

Some of us go to great lengths to fit in, even changing certain aspects of our identity, while others maintain
their identity so as not to lose who they are and where they belong. Perhaps you changed your hairstyle to fit in
with the crowd. Maybe you were willing to sacrifice your morals and engaged in dangerous behavior to be
accepted by a certain group of people. Or you may have been the one who stood up for what you believed and
ended up alone as a result. In any of these situations there may have been something gained and lost. Your
discussion will need to address the advantages or shortcomings, depending on the circumstances, of
recreating or maintaining one’s identity. In your discussion of the literary selection be sure to support the claims
you make by offering textual evidence and parenthetically citing it. The presentation of your own experiences
should be demonstrated by specific examples.
Possible readings from which you may choose:
Iwata’s “Race Without Face.”
Wong’s “The Struggle to be on All-American Girl.”
Petrakis’ “Barba Nikos.”
Malcolm X “Hair.”
Staples’ “Night Walker.”
Mukherjee’s “Two Ways to Belong in America.”
Lim’s “Two Lives.”

Sample Solution