Assignment

Write a 3 page double-spaced essay, reflecting on your personal identity, the impact of culture on your identity, and your interactions with others. It might help you to start thinking about your own identity by watching a poem by Crystal Valentine, in which she processes her experience of living in her skin and what that means to her.

https://youtu.be/eEZk12YEe6k

Please answer the following questions in your reflection, making sure to rely heavily on the readings and the videos assigned thus far in the course. The goal is not for a personal reflection, absent the theory and ideas we have been studying over the past two weeks. The intention is for you to situate your learning and your understanding of identity within this larger framework:

• What aspects of your identity do you believe are major influences in your life?

• What are some ways you express/perform/enact your identities?

• What family and/or historical events have shaped how you think about your own cultural identity?

• How might your experiences of your race, socio-economic class, national status, gender, sexuality, religions, age, or ability affect your ability to see, understand, and make sense of the world?

• How do those facets of your cultural identity influence your perceptions of others and/or your relationships with them?

Be sure to clarify and explore the cultural influences of your identity.