In the wild is a story about a wealthy young man who leaves home to find himself.He ends up in the wilderness of alaska where he does not have to live up to any expectations but his own and is able to really find out the kind of person he is.Negotiating Identity is a story about a college student who is billingual and lives with her mother who takes advantage of her linguistic skills. The young lady leaves home and moves to a different country for a year as an exchange student to get away from the life her mother expects her to live and find herself.
The identity stories we red are about the contradiction between the identity, that social environment imposes on us, and our real identity(if there is such a thing existing separately). What my identity is? If I answered the question this way: I am a 23 y.o. straight boy, came to U.S. not that long ago, have accomplished 4 years of university in Russia etc etc, I would be referring to that "forced identity", the one our character ran from to the wild. What my real identity is? or who am I? This is the question that philosophers, theologists, psychologists and all the men have been struggled to answer for thousands of years. And so have I. Dunno yet.
Here is what I found googling the definition of identity:
Bruner(2002): " There is no such thing as an intuitively obvious and essential self to know, one that just sits there ready to be portrayed in words. Rather, we constantly construct and reconstruct our selves to meet the needs of the situations we encounter, and we do so with the guidance of our memories of the past and our hopes and fears for the future (p. 64). "
I feel the stories are strongly connected in that they are centered around somewhat of the same purpose, in that the character is trying to find their true identity rather than the identity others force them to perceive or others perceive for themselves about the character.
I identified with the story titled "Keeper of the Word" by Lan Cao, not in the same way she did. Instead of feeling like I played an important role in the functioning of my multi-lingual family, I felt like I shamed them because of my "broken" Spanish. I remember as a small girl my granmother would get upset with me because I refused to speak to her in Spanish. I was'nt sure if it was because she mostly spoke Spanish and very limited English. She would say "you are not a real Puerto Rican, you don't want to speak YOUR language". That phrase is still tattooed in my brain until this day. Now I speak Spanish more often (especially because I work with many native Spanish speakers)but it is still not fluent. As soon as I open my mouth and start speaking my "native" tongue the spanish people look at me and understand but always tell me my accent is not real and that I am not a Real Puerto Rican because I dont speak "proper" Spanish.
I can relate to the story"Mother's Tongue" by Amy Tan. I too was a translator for my mom when we moved from Puerto Rico to New York City. I had to admit that at times I was embarrassed and annoyed that I had to be her translator. As I got older I learned I was doing a good thing for the woman who gave me life. I was no longer embarrased but proud to be bilingual.
In my opinion the movie “Into the Wild” and the story ‘Negotiating Identity” has one thing in common: they both performance of astonishing depth and humanity. In these stories the young boy and girl try to find their selves and understand their identity. They escaped from home; more important they got away from the life their parents expected them to live. They want to understand what the real identity is.
Both characters: Christopher from "Into the Wild" and Amy Tan's mother from "Mother Tongue" are looking for their identities in very different environments from those they used to live. The only difference is that Christopher chose his new surrounding consciously while Amy's mother was rather forced to move because of economical and social problems. Jolanta Gawlik
(Tyneisha Hill)Into the wild is about a youg man raised into a succesful family with sky's the limit oppurtunity's. Despite the oppurtunity's,he explores tryig to find him self. He goes away far, far into the mountains and lives there and later dies there. He didn't follow in his parents footsteps like some young adults would. He ventured out on his own and eventually becomes one with hisself and he did it for his own purpose. " Mother Tongue " is about a writr who is also trying to find her self despite any one elses opinion. Their stories are similiar because, their both trying to find their identitys.Amy is trying to find hers through language.
8 comments:
In the wild is a story about a wealthy young man who leaves home to find himself.He ends up in the wilderness of alaska where he does not have to live up to any expectations but his own and is able to really find out the kind of person he is.Negotiating Identity is a story about a college student who is billingual and lives with her mother who takes advantage of her linguistic skills. The young lady leaves home and moves to a different country for a year as an exchange student to get away from the life her mother expects her to live and find herself.
The identity stories we red are about the contradiction between the identity, that social environment imposes on us, and our real identity(if there is such a thing existing separately).
What my identity is?
If I answered the question this way: I am a 23 y.o. straight boy, came to U.S. not that long ago, have accomplished 4 years of university in Russia etc etc, I would be referring to that "forced identity", the one our character ran from to the wild.
What my real identity is? or who am I? This is the question that philosophers, theologists, psychologists and all the men have been struggled to answer for thousands of years. And so have I. Dunno yet.
Here is what I found googling the definition of identity:
Bruner(2002):
" There is no such thing as an intuitively obvious and
essential self to know, one that just sits there ready to be
portrayed in words. Rather, we constantly construct and
reconstruct our selves to meet the needs of the situations
we encounter, and we do so with the guidance of our
memories of the past and our hopes and fears for the
future (p. 64). "
I feel the stories are strongly connected in that they are centered around somewhat of the same purpose, in that the character is trying to find their true identity rather than the identity others force them to perceive or others perceive for themselves about the character.
I identified with the story titled "Keeper of the Word" by Lan Cao, not in the same way she did. Instead of feeling like I played an important role in the functioning of my multi-lingual family, I felt like I shamed them because of my "broken" Spanish. I remember as a small girl my granmother would get upset with me because I refused to speak to her in Spanish. I was'nt sure if it was because she mostly spoke Spanish and very limited English. She would say "you are not a real Puerto Rican, you don't want to speak YOUR language".
That phrase is still tattooed in my brain until this day. Now I speak Spanish more often (especially because I work with many native Spanish speakers)but it is still not fluent. As soon as I open my mouth and start speaking my "native" tongue the spanish people look at me and understand but always tell me my accent is not real and that I am not a Real Puerto Rican because I dont speak "proper" Spanish.
I can relate to the story"Mother's Tongue" by Amy Tan. I too was a translator for my mom when we moved from Puerto Rico to New York City. I had to admit that at times I was embarrassed and annoyed that I had to be her translator. As I got older I learned I was doing a good thing for the woman who gave me life. I was no longer embarrased but proud to be bilingual.
In my opinion the movie “Into the Wild” and the story ‘Negotiating Identity” has one thing in common: they both performance of astonishing depth and humanity. In these stories the young boy and girl try to find their selves and understand their identity. They escaped from home; more important they got away from the life their parents expected them to live. They want to understand what the real identity is.
Both characters: Christopher from "Into the Wild" and Amy Tan's mother from "Mother Tongue" are looking for their identities in very different environments from those they used to live. The only difference is that Christopher chose his new surrounding consciously while Amy's mother was rather forced to move because of economical and social problems.
Jolanta Gawlik
(Tyneisha Hill)Into the wild is about a youg man raised into a succesful family with sky's the limit oppurtunity's. Despite the oppurtunity's,he explores tryig to find him self. He goes away far, far into the mountains and lives there and later dies there. He didn't follow in his parents footsteps like some young adults would. He ventured out on his own and eventually becomes one with hisself and he did it for his own purpose. " Mother Tongue " is about a writr who is also trying to find her self despite any one elses opinion. Their stories are similiar because, their both trying to find their identitys.Amy is trying to find hers through language.
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