Identity

African and American Literature

 

The theme that was emphasized in this week’s interpretations is identity. I chose identity because it resonated throughout the stories and the poems. It also deals with the identity of one’s culture and what people perceive you to be. It also deals with the identity of you name and what that would mean. In the story ‘’Notes of a Native Son’’ it is the story of a man who does not know his father at all. He starts to go over his childhood and the situations that includes his father, however he does not know the true essence and the real identity of his father. It reads, ‘’From what I was able to gather of his early life, it seemed that this inability to establish contact with other people had always marked him and had been one of the things which had driven him out of New Orleans’’ (Greenblatt 2012, p. 738).  When they mention the that, the character was marked I think they are trying to say that it scared him. Something terrifying must have happened to the father that stuck with him for the rest of his life. In this story it was also mentioned that him and his father never really had a conversation, so he did not know him, but gathered only what he saw and thought that was who he was. 

In the story ‘’Chike’s school days’’ this is the story of an African family (mixed family) that grew up differently and took on the ways of the ‘’white man’’. because the father married a white woman. When it comes to identity people believe if you are a certain race and you go outside of that race then you no longer belong to the culture. It seems Amos identity as an African was stripped because he wanted to discover a new culture. It reads ‘’Chike’s father was not originally an Osu but had gone and married an Osu women in the name of Christianity. It was unheard of for a man to make himself Osu in that way, with his eyes wide open. Amos was nothing if not mad. The new religion has gone to his head’’ (Greenblatt 2012, p.828). This does not take away who Amos is it is adding to who he is and who he decides to be. Identity is the distinguishing character or personality of an individual, so he probably wanted to build his character by learning something different and allowing his children to educated themselves and learn something different. That does not mean his identity of his culture is erased because of his choices. 

In the story ‘’The Deep River’’ There was a man who was next in line to rule over a village and because he made some mistakes and let a secret out that he fathered a child that the village thought was his fathers, and the Chiefs wife was having an affair with him also. It reads ‘’He must be mad. A man who is influenced by a woman is no ruler. He is like one who listens to the advice of a child. This story is really bad’’ (Greenblatt 2012, p.1102). People thought of him as someone worth leading until this secret came out. The identity and the person they thought he was now changed because of a mistake. In the end it showed his good character, and the identity people would always remember. Someone who has made a mistake and took the time to handle his mistake. His identity builds great integrity.

 

For the readers who are teachers, I would have the  students start by using identity charts to help them connect to the theme on a more personal level. Identity charts are a graphic tool that can help students consider the many factors that shape the identities of both individuals and communities. In this lesson, students will use identity charts to analyze the ways they define themselves and the labels that others use to describe them. Sharing their own identity charts with peers can help students build relationships and break down stereotypes. In this way, identity charts can be used as an effective classroom community-building tool. A sample identity chart is included below. After the students have completed these exercises, they will be able to use their knowledge to break down a character’s identity in a reading. This will help the students understand different characters that they will read about during this course and apply it to other classes and subjects.

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Pop culture offers an opportunity for educators to meet students where they are. Students spend much of their time interacting with popular culture and using it as an educational tool allows teachers to make that time more productive. The impact of social media on a student’s self-identity is a great way to bring the students in. I would have the students introduce themselves, online, in 250 characters. It is harder than you would think. There are a lot of online learning environments on which students need to create a profile. If you do not have a safe environment like that, just use little cards that are drafted to look like an Instagram profile or another social platform.

Click here to get more information on how to help students find self identity.

Works Sited

Greenblatt, S. (2012). The Norton anthology of English literature. New York: W.W. Norton.