The Value of Identity in Literature by Brandon Peterson https://padlet.com/peterb51/l2fh2eonv257 made with a lot of EYEdentity en-us 2019-05-06 02:03:52 UTC 2025-03-14 08:29:13 UTC hello@padlet.com The Focus peterb51 https://padlet.com/peterb51/l2fh2eonv257/wish/357022242 Former President Barack Obama was asked a question in an interview with Michiko Kakutani, the chief book critic for The New York Times. The question was, “Was writing partly a way to figure out your identity?” this really caught my attention because identity can be seen throughout all literature whether it be fiction or nonfiction. For example, in every book someone reads, the characters have to have some sort of identity because how would the author then be able to create and interpret the theme of the book.  If there was no identity throughout the book what would engage or content the reader to the book.  Obama had an interesting answer to this question and he said, “And I genuinely believe that it was part of the way in which I was able to integrate all these pieces of myself into something relatively whole.”. Now here Obama is showing how writing allowed himself to find his identity. As for identity through literature it has to be present because it allows the reader to be able to identify with the characters or the author.  Identity through literature allows the reader to discover what kind of identity they would like to have or not have. Lastly, people read some form of literature everyday whether it be a book or a newspaper and without identity as a value of literature how would one create his or her own identity as well as relate to the book or newspaper based on the identity of the piece. That’s why identity is such a key value of literature.       

]]> 2019-05-06 02:03:52 UTC https://padlet.com/peterb51/l2fh2eonv257/wish/357022242 "Speech to the Young. Speech to the Progress-Toward" by Gwendolyn Brooks peterb51 https://padlet.com/peterb51/l2fh2eonv257/wish/357022243 The poem explains how there will be tough parts in life and how it is sometimes easier not to face your problems. Also, it’s about how not everything is not about winning, but about enjoying the present. This relates to main idea because identity is crawling all over this poem from how it relates to baseball to the identity of the poem itself. For example, Brooks talks about "Down- keepers",
"sun-slappers", "self-soilers", and "harmony
hushers" which represent the opposing fans as well as negative people in
your life and this has an impact on your identity because if someone is
standing in your way of achieving your goal you are not going to allow it to
happen. . Identity is a value of this poem because it shows how the author is
relating the poem to the reader by using an American pastime to represent the
issues you may face in life and how there is always a way to belong.  
 
 
]]> 2019-05-06 02:03:52 UTC https://padlet.com/peterb51/l2fh2eonv257/wish/357022243 "Rite of Passage" by Sharon Olds peterb51 https://padlet.com/peterb51/l2fh2eonv257/wish/357022337 The Rite of Passage by Sharon Olds is about a mother watching her son and how he interacts with the young children because often young people need a rite or a traditional, culturally meaningful test or experience to prove they belong. As well as how the mother is worried about what ritual her son may be a part of. This poem need identity to help support what this poem is about. For example, if the poem didn’t relate to mothers watching their kids grow up would someone get the same message with just something about a random passage or journey. Honestly no one would understand the poem because there is no identity to it because the poem as is needs the identity of the mother in the poem and her worries for her son so people can relate and have a better understanding of the poem.      
 
]]> 2019-05-06 02:04:26 UTC https://padlet.com/peterb51/l2fh2eonv257/wish/357022337 "A&P" by John Updike peterb51 https://padlet.com/peterb51/l2fh2eonv257/wish/357022564 The short story is about a young man named Sammy who works at the A&P Grocery Store and decides to quit after the boss disrespects these three female customers just in their bathing suits. Sammy’s decision to quit is based upon how beautiful he says the girls were and how he doesn’t agree with the way his boss treated the girls. Also he doesn’t want to end up like his boss who is single and working the rest of his life at the A&P. Sammy the narrator of the story is showing a lot of identity because he is not only sticking up for what’s right he is showing the reader in order to aspire to greatness you may have to make a tough the decision that might not seem like the best one. What I mean by this is Sammy at first makes a decision to quit which was the right move because he was standing for what he thought was right but kind of second guess himself because his parents helped him get this decent paying job. Every boy in the world can relate to this poem because of the identity of Sammy and because of how real this actually seems.    
 
]]> 2019-05-06 02:05:41 UTC https://padlet.com/peterb51/l2fh2eonv257/wish/357022564 "Quinceanera" by Judith Ortiz Cofer peterb51 https://padlet.com/peterb51/l2fh2eonv257/wish/357022741 This poem is about a girl from a Latin America country how is celebrating her Quinceanera which is about the transformation into adulthood. Identity is prevalent in this poem because of how it relates to the readers. It relates to the readers because many Latin American woman probably feel somewhat of the same way as the girl depicted in the poem. But it also can relate to us Americans as we turn 18 and become adults granted it is more geared towards Latin American but as the same concept. For example, when an American turns 18 years of age they are expected to do a lot from what they decided to do with their life and how they go about doing it. So even though the identity of the poem is geared towards Latin American women it can still relate to someone you might least accept.    ]]> 2019-05-06 02:06:28 UTC https://padlet.com/peterb51/l2fh2eonv257/wish/357022741 'America" by Claude McKay peterb51 https://padlet.com/peterb51/l2fh2eonv257/wish/357022976 America is about how Claude thought of America when he first moved here to how he has developed mixed feelings for America because of how it is changing. In my opinion Claude
McKay writes this poem to show how America has its own identity towards
different ethnic groups. As well as how the people in those different ethnic
groups overcome adversity to discover their own identity. What I mean by this
is that that when Claude first moved to America that’s how America is
describing itself. Now that he has lived her for a while, he actually is seeing
what the true identity of America is. This poem has a ton of identity because
of how it relates to the African Americans and the struggles they have living
in America. As well as how it relates to what America once was to what it is
now.    
 
]]> 2019-05-06 02:07:57 UTC https://padlet.com/peterb51/l2fh2eonv257/wish/357022976 "Harlem (Dream Deferred)" by Langston Hughes peterb51 https://padlet.com/peterb51/l2fh2eonv257/wish/357023366 Hughes writes this poem that relates to the african American’s living in America and how if they try to accomplish their dreams there may be some consequences that come with not achieving them. For example, when Hughes writes, “Does it dry up, like a raisin in the sun?” he is referring to how the dream may not come true and people can relate to this because it happens to everyone every day. But at the end of the poem he writes, “Or does it explode?” which refers to what if the dream does come true
an are you ready for this to happen. We see this every day in all sports where
kids coming out of high school have a chance to become something great and “explode”
or get all dried up like a “raisin in the sun” because they make a few to many
bad choices and ruin their chances. The identity comes from Hughes because this
poem had an impact on African Americans as well as how it can relate to others
like it does to me with sports.    
 
]]> 2019-05-06 02:09:57 UTC https://padlet.com/peterb51/l2fh2eonv257/wish/357023366 The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros peterb51 https://padlet.com/peterb51/l2fh2eonv257/wish/357023867 The short story is about the life of Esperanza whose family moves into the house on mango street and her journey of maturing into a young adult.  There is identity all over this book because Esperanza goes through the same problem many teenage girls face in growing up from puberty to just growing up. For example, Esperanza is getting older and coming of age and struggles to find who she is until she realizes the power of language or power of writing as I like to put it because she discovers how she can use her words to discover who she is. Also, towards the end of the book Esperanza talks about how she wants to leave so she can live in a better house in a better place but then begins to realize the impact the house on mango street has on. This story is a perfect piece of literature with the value of identity because of how you can connect to the Esperanza as the reader. Which allows someone to see what she did and compare it to what someone else may have done.    
 
]]> 2019-05-06 02:12:49 UTC https://padlet.com/peterb51/l2fh2eonv257/wish/357023867 Fences by August Wilson peterb51 https://padlet.com/peterb51/l2fh2eonv257/wish/357025795  Fences, is
about the life of Troy Maxson and his family that lives in the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
and their struggle to keep the family together through tough times. This play
by August Wilson has a ton of identity in from the characters to the playwright
himself. Tory one of the main characters has a ton of identity because he has
been through so much in his life already from leaving his home at a young age,
to being in prison, and to being a not so good husband and father.  Many
people can relate to him because many have the same problems and it especially
relates to husband and father figures because Tory’s is not the type of Father
or husband you want to be. there is also a lot of identity in the play because
of August Wilson and how he tries to show how African Americans were being
forced to live in certain areas because the white folks didn’t want to allow
them to amount to anything. This play is an outstanding example of the value of
identity has on literature.      ]]> 2019-05-06 02:24:16 UTC https://padlet.com/peterb51/l2fh2eonv257/wish/357025795 A Lesson Before Dying by Ernest Gaines peterb51 https://padlet.com/peterb51/l2fh2eonv257/wish/357027359    A Lesson Before Dying which is about a man named Jefferson who has been sentenced to death, but before he dies his Miss Emma ask Professor Wiggins a local African American teacher to teach him about dignity so that he can die a man. This short novel has plenty of identity from Ernest Gaines himself to the character in his novel. First Gaines identity has to deal with the black masculinity of African American’s because many male African American’s struggled with discovering who they were. Which is shown through the characters Jefferson and Professor Wiggins. Jefferson is one of the main characters who develops his own identity over the course of the book by learning what it means to be a man. Also, Professor Wiggins shows identity because he goes from being a stubborn arrogant man to being a compassion loving man. Identity would be difficult to take out of this piece of literature because of the significant impact it has on the story.            
 




]]> 2019-05-06 02:33:58 UTC https://padlet.com/peterb51/l2fh2eonv257/wish/357027359 The Identity of Hockey peterb51 https://padlet.com/peterb51/l2fh2eonv257/wish/357032342 There are many things that could demonstrate my idea but none better than the sport of hockey. Hockey has so much identity from the team you play to all the players on the team. A hockey teams’ roster for a game has 20 players each with a different identity. For example, there are 2 goalies on every team who both have a very unique identity because they stand in the middle of the net and try to stop a puck coming at them. Now if you want to do that be my guest but there are other positions that have much more identity. Next, the forwards 12 of them to be exact have a very weird identity because all they like to do is score goals and kind of play defense. who doesn’t like to score goals but it takes work a little work to play defense?  Then, comes the defense with only 6 of them on the team they have an identity all their own because they do a little bit of everything. They get to help protect the puck from reaching the goalie but they also get to turn around and try to score on the opposing team's goalie. Lastly, comes the team itself and each one has its own identity. A team may have an identity based on the players they have or the coaches. They also can have an identity based on how they play from a tough loud identity to a skilled quite identity. Hockey is a very complex game that is difficult to understand but the identity in hockey is nothing like you have ever seen.           
 
     
]]> 2019-05-06 03:05:06 UTC https://padlet.com/peterb51/l2fh2eonv257/wish/357032342 Favorite Piece of Literature peterb51 https://padlet.com/peterb51/l2fh2eonv257/wish/357035344 In this semester of English 2 I have read a lot of pieces of literature from plays, poems, and short stories but my favorite piece of literature we have read is the poem “America” by Claude McKay. This is my favorite piece of literature we read because of how it made me think of what it actually was like to live back then as well as how it affected me. First the poem is written by an African American writer who wants to bring into focus what it was actually like for African Americans to live in America as well as how the identity of America and his own identity are different. Now this poem affects me because it made me think of what America actually was like back then from the racism to just overall living as well as the way of life. I can’t imagine being an African American in the south as well as a White American at that time because to be an African American in the south was certain a scary experience because you would have to watch your every move who you talked to as well as where you lived. Also, as a White American in the south would be tough because if you didn’t believe in Slavery you would have been an outcast and possibly forced to leave town or you could have been mean and cruel to African American’s because of how you grew up. Claude McKay’s poem “America” is my favorite piece I read this semester based on how much it caused me to actually think about the world as whole from beginning to end.         

 
 
]]> 2019-05-06 03:25:51 UTC https://padlet.com/peterb51/l2fh2eonv257/wish/357035344