Characteristics of Identity

-Biographical/Statistical Data: name, gender, race, sexual orientation, age, height…etc
-External Influences: living surroundings, traditions, culture
-Internal Influences: personality traits, personal experience, personal morals and values

Characteristics based off of: Olsen, Eric T. “Personal Identity.” Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. 20 Feb 2007. Web.12 June 2008. < http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/identity-personal/ >.

Resources about Identity in Early American Literature

1. Garrett, Brian. Personal Identify and Self-Consciousness. New York: Routledge. NetLibrary. 2 June 2007 <http://www.netlibrary.com.ezproxy1.lib.asu.edu/Reader/>.
This website is from a book that focuses on what personal identify is and the problems behind personal identity. It lists criteria for personal identity. This website is used in helping to define personal identity to determine if it is present in a specific authors work. The resource describes the theme and provides a list of test/references to further research on the theme. This website is a book with an author which is copyrighted and published.

2. Pachter, Marc. "The American Identity." eJournal USA: Society & Values. December 2004. Online Journal. 5 June 2007. < http://usinfo.state.gov/journals/itsv/1204/ijse/pachter.htm >
The main purpose of the website is to define the idea of American Identity. The site is well informative about every aspect of American Identity. It covers the many ideas that have molded the current identity of America. The information provided is abundent about the subject. The website is dedicated to covering the society and values in the United States. The criteria that I would follow is looking at the section Equality vs. Freedom. It helps give an idea of how the authors expressed their thoughts and state of mind about freedom and equality. Different authors came into mind when reviewing this website especially the early African American writers that wished for freedom and equality. After reading different text this site gives a prospective of the state of identity during those times. This site is credible due to its affiliation to the state and goverent. Its from a credible website that has very well informative journals.

3.Society Shapes our Identity < http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c7vD9aX3Km4 >
This is a video that looks at how society shapes identity: language, wealth, news, music, school, poverty, relationships, politics, celebrities, art, culture, religion, entertainment, fashion, and holidays. There are so many factors that contribute to our identities.

4. “Identity.” __Encarta__. 2007. 3 June 2007. < http://encarta.msn.com/dictionary_1861619974/identity.html >.
This portion of the website provides a dictionary. Identity is defined as “the name or essential character that defines somebody or something.” One can find their identity by looking to their “essential self,” or the set of characteristics that somebody recognizes as belonging uniquely to himself and constituting his individual personality for life. This description of identity relates to Enlightenment in that people during this time were in search of a new, solid identity. It could be said that the United States was on a quest for its “essential self” through changes in government, power, beliefs, and values. Progress was being made toward the desired identity of America.This website is sponsored by the Microsoft Corporation and its information comes from the published Encarta dictionary

5. "Identity." copyright © 2005 by Merriam-Webster, Incorporated. 6 June 2007. <http://www.webster.com/cgi-bin/dictionary?sourceid=Mozilla-search&va=identity>.
Webster's online dictionary defines identity as, "the distinguishing character or personality of an individual." The identity of a person is what makes them an individual. Not one person is exactly the same. Identity of authors or even characters when speaking about American Literature is what defines that author or character. When reading literature the identity of each character is cruical to that writing. All the details that describe that person is what makes them real to the reader. It is important for the reader to be able to make a mental picture of the character if there are no pictures.

6. Personal Identity (philosophy). Wikipedia. 1 June 2007. June 9, 2007. < http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personal_identity_%28philosophy%29 >
This article explains the philosophical idea of identity. Identity transcends all literary movements and works. It is therefore applicable to the enlightenment period. When Identity is examined and studied it helps the reader understand those spoken of in the text.

7. Oxford English Dictionary. Second Edition 1989. June 2007
The definition of identity is
1. a. The quality or condition of being the same in substance, composition, nature, properties, or in particular qualities under consideration; absolute or essential sameness; oneness.
absolute identity, that asserted in the metaphysical doctrine of Schelling that mind and matter are phenomenal modifications of the same substance.
2. a. The sameness of a person or thing at all times or in all circumstances; the condition or fact that a person or thing is itself and not something else; individuality, personality.
personal identity (in Psychology), the condition or fact of remaining the same person throughout the various phases of existence; continuity of the personality. (Oxford English Dictionary).
This is a website is an online dictionary that helps define words to define. The criterion it uses is the search in word fine search. This website is resourceful in reading for interpretation of the literary term “identity”. This is a credible site.

8. Ronning, Anne Holden. “Literature as an Empowerment of Identity.” 8 June 2007 < http://www.ifuw.org/seminars/Literature.pdf>.
Given as a seminar by the author, the article discusses the “increasingly multinational and multicultural world” in which we live, and how literature has become a means for these cultures to establish a sense of identity through expression. She writes, “The search for our roots, for who we are, a dominant feature of late twentieth century society and its literature, must, however, always be in a dialogue.” This applies nicely to “Civil Disobedience” since it was a dialogue between Thoreau and the politically active. She also writes that identity is not merely a cultural thing, but can be national as well, stating that “literature can also function, through its analysis of different cultural identities, as a link to national heritage.”

9. Clement, Richard W. "THE FRONTIER IN BOOKS." Publishing Research Quaterly 14.3 (1998): 53-67. Academic Search Premier. Mesa Community College, Scottsdale. 3 June 2008. Keywords: Identity, Frontier. http://web-ebscohost-com.ezp.mc.maricopa.edu. This site focuses on the Puritans struggle to find their identity in a new land under a new founded religion. It discusses their tribulations through the years in various parts of the country, and events that unfurled along the way, and spills over into later parts of the American Frontier farther westward. Understanding this may help to better place the literary theme in the early American literary period. The site is found on the Academic Search Premier and is thoroughly documented, and from a scholarly, peer-reviewed journal.

10. “Nature and the American Identity.” American Studies at the University of Virginia. April 1996. <http://xroads.virginia.edu/~cap/NATURE/cap2.html > This site is maintained by the American Studies program at the University of Virginia. It discusses how the landscape and undiscovered nature of the United States helped to shape the identities of its people. American Romantics were trying to move from traditional neoclassic thought but also establish their own identities apart from English Romantics. The wildness and undiscovered nature of America inspired American Romantics to value notions of untamed identity, strength, and ruggedness. Instead of trying to meet English/European refinements, they embraced their natural and unrefined creativity. The vastness and grandness of the American wilderness translated into imaginative plots and larger than life characters. Note that the homepage could prove quite helpful for more in-depth studies of American history and literature.

11. Heimann Jean and Robert Franek. “Writing on Identity: Conflict, Construction, and Connection.” Concord College, Moorhead, Minnesota. 10 June 2008 <http://www4.cord.edu/religion/journals/identity/Default.htm>. This website is a college of essay on Identity in writing. The first page gives an overview of each essay and how it relates to identity. This website focuses in on identity in religion but can be used to understand the term identity and how it works in writing. According to the article Narrative and Universal Reinterpretation by Jean Heimann, identity can be formed through the use of stories that portray the human experience giving us examples how the world is and what we are expected to do because of it. I found this very interesting because I never thought about my writing influencing those around me. Another essay on this page, Identity through Destruction by Elizabeth Lerohl talks about how identity can be shaped through the conflict we go through. This essay focuses in on woman but it happen to men as well. This website gave me great insight into my time period of Enlightenment because it gave me a better understanding how the writing of that time period or any period for that matter has shaped our nation. This website is creditable because it is has a copyright by Concord College. This website is edited by Robert Franek who is an accredited author.

12.Langbaum, Robert Woodrow. The Mysteries of Identity: A Theme in Modern Literature. New York: Oxford University Press, 1977. This book is in the WorldCat database on the MCC library site. It outlines a number of works that incorporates identity into its general theme, and provides a number of examples. It also discusses the search for identity as therapeutic. I found this source valuable because it relates identity directly to literature. I believe this source to be credible because the author is an English professor.
18. "Cultural identity." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 7 May 2009, 03:05 UTC. 7 May 2009 <http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Cultural_identity&oldid=288402306>. WikiPedia aims to provide reliable, free encyclopedia articles online that are strengthened by peer review. In this article, the goal is to explain the validity of cultural identity by citing both modern and old examples. Essentially, people bond when they experience similar events. The event may stem from war, when people group together against a common enemy. Enemies often have a different culture, leading to variations in custom, language, taste, and motivation. However, as individuals, they also view the “other” as “evil.” This idea supports the Deist belief that “evil” is only created when there is a conflict with one's personal values. Also important to keep in mind is how personal tastes are motivated, to some extent, by culture. This, in turn, shapes our sense of self. Thus, Locke’s influence today is “leftover” from the Enlightenment era. A cultural identity crisis may occur on a personal level (as believed by Deists), as well as on the larger scale of a shared community, state, or nation. The latter is vital when considering the Revolutionary War against Britain; people of differing beliefs and backgrounds (including those as “different” as the educated slave, Wheatley) shared at least some commonalities. This also suggests that America will evolve its own culture over time. I think this article supports the importance of reading Enlightenment literature, particularly minority voices like Wheatley.

19. "identity." Webster's New World College Dictionary. 2009. Your Dictionary. 5 June 2009 <www.yourdictionary.com/identity>.
The main purpose of this website was to define the word identity as well as give possible synonyms for the word and examples for proper usage. According to this website, in order for a text or author to fit into the identity theme, they must generally take on an individuality in which they are classified under. This website was helpful in reading and making sense of the text particularly because it provided numerous thorough definitions that made it easy to apply it to the specific text. This was a credible website for several reasons; it had a extensive index of several other words relating to ‘identity’, it listed many different categories for the word, and it also provided other websites to do further research on the word.

20. "Identity." Definr. Web.6 Jun 2009. <http://definr.com/identity>. This website is an online dictionary, which is used to define and provide information on various topics. This particular dictionary is helpful because it suggest words as you are typing. Definr provides many definitions for identity. Identity essentially is the dominant set of traits and characteristics that a person possesses that makes up their personality. Identity plays a big role in literature because without it, characters would not exist or would all be the same. Sometimes in literature, personal or cultural identity are what the main character searches for throughout the story.

21. Person, Leland S. The Cambridge Introduction to Nathaniel Hawthorne. 2007. Google Books Online. 50-52 http://books.google.com/books?id=1xQ98X0F15oC&pg=PA50&lpg=PA50&dq=%22Nathaniel+Hawthorne%22+%2B+%22My+kinsman,+Major+Molineux%22+%2B+%22criticism%22&source=bl&ots=ROvAwQzDVi&sig=J8FCnHkObs9ELx8Z3LlH6koCFlA&hl=en&ei=rgoqSoDHKIqUMri4vd8J&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2#PPA132-IA7,M1. The pages 50-52 of this book discuss the theme of identity in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “My Kinsman, Major Molineux.” The subject is young Robin, who is new in the city in search of his kinsman. He is a very naïve, innocent youth who has no real social experiences to educate him on the behaviors of others. Robin is shown as a coming-of-age character, becoming more of an independent man from his visit to town. During his time wandering the streets he is faced to discover that his assumptions of people and society are proving to be not as expected. When he finally encounters his kinsman, being ousted publicly, Robin is forced to rely upon himself and begin to make his own future. He has by then been rejecting his preconceived notions of society and his place in it. This section of the book states the complexities of personal identity, especially without experience to help mold it, as young Robin was without.

22. "Define the terms identity, ethnicity, race, class, culture and gender, and explore the differences, similarities and links bet." Google. 05 June 2009 <http://74.125.95.132/search?q=cache:V3qR_xZfxK8J:www.multiverse.ac.uk/attachments/18fb5447-4169-4249-889a- 4f0a59f54344.doc+define+identity&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us>.
This sites purpose is to define identity, ethnicity, race, class, culture, and gender and the effects they have on each other. For a text to fit under the literary theme "Identity" it must develop the identity of the characters and people involved in the story. This source was helpful in understanding the texts I read because it made clear all of the things the writers used to create a sense of identity in their work. It was also useful in understanding the identity of the author themselves and how their race, and gender aided in the creation of their personal identity. The identity in which was created in their books also influenced the setting and imagery seen throughout the text. This source is credible because it has an extensive amount of references that are also credible.


24. Bean, Thomas W., and Karen Monti. “Developing students’ critical literacy: exploring identity construction in young adult fiction.” Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy 46.8 (May 2003): 638(11). General OneFile. Gale. Mesa Community College. 12 June 2009 <http://find.galegroup.com.ezp.mc.maricopa.edu/itx/start.do?proId=ITOF>. This website explains the different themes an author may write about such as racism, pregnancy, divorce, substance abuse, family conflicts, and political justice. The author goes further to describe these themes have character identity and values. The website describes the theories of identity development, and ethnic identity. It was important to review the different types of identity when it comes to reading works of different authors. Without knowing the types of identity it may be a bit difficult to understand a story. It would be difficult to determine the difference between literary themes. Identity is important when it comes to determining the difference between characters and settings. Everything has its own identity. This article was found on the MCC Library Website therefore it proves to be credible.

25. “Definition of Ethnicity, Culture, and Identity” The Department of Child Safety. 19 OCT 2007. Queensland Government. 22 JUN 2009. < http://www.childsafety.qld.gov.au/adoption/education/intercountry/module6/definition-ethnicity.html>.
The main purpose of this website is to define the term identity as well as the other concepts that are associated with it. The website classifies the term ‘identity’ as an individual's personal identity, social identity or ethnic identity. Therefore, you can check whether a specific author or text fit underneath this term by seeing if it can be classified into the subcategories of personal identity, social identity, and ethnic identity. This resource was helpful in reading, interpreting, and making sense of other elements (specifically the text I chose) because it showed the different ways in which it could be adapted to different situations and it also gave real life examples for each subcategory of identity. I would consider this a credible website because although it is not a typical ‘scholarly’ website, it is still from a very trust and respected source of information; the department of child safety.

Delont. "Self Reflection by ~chdelont on DeviantART." DeviantART. 2007. Web. 09 June 2010. <http://chdelont.deviantart.com/art/Self-Reflection-71991647>.


Merriam Webster Defines Identity.

Dictionary.com defines identity.

FreeDictionary.com defines identity.




"Sense of Self." YouTube- Broadcast Yourself. 01 March 2007. Web. 09 June 2010.

Representative Author and Texts

Harriet Jacobs
Henry David Thoreau