1 Blog: Family and Identity

Chapter Five asks: "How do we become who we are?"

Many factors affect who we are, and how we become who we are today. As noted in our textbook by Muller (2014),

As much as our identities are shaped by powerful institutional forces like the family, what we are might be even more powerfully determined by the forces of sexuality and gender. Freud asserted that human behavior is rooted in sexuality, that gender (rather than family or school or social institution) is destiny. Clearly, notions of what it means to be a man or a woman have an impact on the construction of our identity. (p. 229)

Prompt #1. For your first blog, consider a person, place or thing that had a major influence on you. Find a photograph, graphic, or video that captures the feeling of that influence. It might be an actual photograph, a music video, or an inspirational graphic or quotation. Perhaps, you might browse social media like Pinterest or Instagram. Post the photo or graphic along with 300 words sharing what that influence meant to you and its effect on your goals and dreams.

Prompt #2. After reading Annie Dillard's "An American Childhood" (pp. 241-246). Then, write a short descriptive essay about someone you know very well, using several anecdotes or examples from that person's life, so that by the end of the essay, the reader will have a mental picture of your subject's personality, values and attitudes. This could be someone in your biological family or someone else with whom you are or were close.