Your essay topic is loose and general to start and then we will narrow it down as we go: How is identity created?
Is forming an identity natural? Are their any dangers to identity? Think of the Holocaust. Think of Leon Rooke's story, "Want to Play House?" Think of bullying. Think of religious persecution. Think of gangs. Think of the novel you have read.
Is identity learned? Is it taught? Is it demanded? Is it fragile? Is it permanent?
Is identity changeable, necessary, undignified, imposed?
Although you will be writing about the characters in the novel and stories you have read, think also about your own "identity". Do you identify with your gender? Your family? Your school work? Your favourite team or hobby? Your physical self? Your friends? Your city, province, or country? Your culture? Your religion? Your actions or your words? Your dreams and hopes? Your guilt and fear? Your future? Your past? Those you love and cherish? Those who love you?
Today: Choose the 10 to 12 best quotations that will answer the question above and write a 75 to 150 word response for each one. (See the handout and see below for the criteria) The quotation log is worth 100 marks.
Sample Student Log Entry:
Lord of the Flies
By William Golding
- “’Like a crowd of kids--’ He sighed, bent, and laced up his shoes … with the martyred expression of a parent who has to keep up with the senseless ebullience of the children, he picked up the conch, turned towards the forest, and began to pick his way over the tumbled scar” (37-38).
As
the boy’s gallivant off in the excitement of making a fire, Piggy
scolds them all like a parent and picks up the conch before he
gradually makes his way to where the boys are. Throughout the book,
Piggy is one of the only boys who cares about his appearance and
takes the role of being the more parental figure amongst the boys. He
specifically excludes himself as being called a ‘kid’ and he
laces up his shoes. He brings back the concepts and rules of
civilization on to the island. The process of taking his time
carefully to tie up his shoes portrays that Piggy is still strongly
attached to society’s teachings of being civilized and looking
proper, despite the fact that they’re on a deserted island with no
grown-ups. The fact that he takes the time to appear decent for no
particular reason but just out of habit, instead of running off with
the other boys, illustrates how an island in the absence of grown-ups
and rules does not have the same effect on Piggy compared to other
boys. Piggy is clearly not happy with the idea of the fire or let
alone the island, as this quote describes his expression as
‘martyred’, in this case suffering and enduring the crazed lust
for fire, danger and freedom of the boys. Prior to the quote above,
the boys were in a rather orderly meeting of discussing what to do
next, all of it organized by the blowing of the conch. Then the boys
forgot to pick up the conch and were too excited by the idea of fire,
thus, they had left behind a manner of society, a civilized part of
their soul. Piggy however remembers to pick up the conch, a symbol of
order, because he is picking up after the boys and still feels
obligated and attached to the aspect of society. He feels that what
they’re about to do, they need to at least bring some order and
rules into it, so that is why he picked up the conch before following
the boys.
