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Definition Essay: How Identity Shapes Each Person

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Identity is such a simple word and yet has so much depth to it. Every being has an identity. The real question is how identity shapes each person. The concept of identity is multi-layered. One can have an identity that pertains to only themself, but one can also have a group identity. At the end of the day, a person’s identity is all that they truly have with them throughout their whole life. Preston identifies three frameworks for analyzing how an identity is formed and transformed. He describes locale, network, and memory. The locale is used to focus on a person’s physical environment and how it has shaped them over time physically and mentally. The network is a person’s relationship with others and what those dynamics are/how they affect …show more content…

Even though she came from the Philippines where there are very limited opportunities and she came from a very unstable way of life, she never let that get the best of her. No matter how old she was, she would always manage to find a way to earn money and support her family without resulting to immoral methods or hurting her own moral compass. Since she was able to survive there, she truly believes in certain superstitions. Every New Year, we have to down at least 12 grapes as soon as possible to ensure good luck for upcoming year. After that, my sister and I used to bang on pots and pans to push out the bad spirits of the year before. I have never been allowed to balance a pillow on my head without being reprimanded because it means that someone in our family will contract an illness or death. We aren’t allowed to cut up our long noodles because it’s equivalent to cutting our lifespan. And, my favorite part about my families polarities, even though we are Catholic, we collect good luck charms and statues from all walks of life. In my bedroom at home I have a Black Jesus, a laughing Buddha, and several charms from tribes around the world. A random mosh posh of rules I can almost never remember and little traditions that seem like second nature to me have guided me through the mundane and the trying times of my

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