Her work began with found objects arranged in boxes and these items mainly reflect her mixed ancestry (Hillstrom, 1999: 582). 1.4) Theoretical Foundation Ethnic Identity The ethnic identity is in essence a past orientated form of identity, embedded the cultural heritage of the individual or group. ... 2) What role does ethnic identity play in the respective artist's work? ... Chapter Two: Ethnic Identity Ethnic identity can best be understood through an examination of its etymological origins. ... Naturally, the ethnic group tends to be one in which the individual claims heritage (Phin...

• Word Count: 3101
• Approx Pages: 12
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

She suggests that strong nationality and patriotism are dangerous because the sense of identity that results from them can lead people to disregard the rights of individuals of different identities. ... She believes that human rights should not be concentrated on single national identities. ... Du Bois would recognize that Nussbaum fails to identify the historical power of particular identities around the world. He believes that identity is the key factor for achieving a true citizenship. ... Black Americans were not true citizens because they were unaware of their true identity. ...

• Word Count: 2792
• Approx Pages: 11
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

Double-consciousness has a direct negative affect on identity of African American people. ... This is why identity is questioned so much because this convergence is very hard to accomplish. ... Among African Americans, the concept of identity is integral to race.... At this time identity became defined by one's affiliation with the American "race". ... African Americans have many different ways in which they choose to regain their identity. ...

• Word Count: 3543
• Approx Pages: 14
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

The central theme of the novel is the search for identity. ... He is also concerned with communal effort of African-American to define cultural identity. ... Invisible Man sees education as a pathway to a sense of pride and dignity along with identity. ... In relation with the overall theme of the novel which is the search for self-identity rather than societal-identity. ... At the conclusion of the novel, he finds himself coming to grips with his own identity as an individual despite the myth of black conformity. ...

• Word Count: 567
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

"Battle Royal," by Ralph Ellison, tells the story of a young black man during segregation who struggles to discover his identity. ... In the story the narrator is in search for his identity during a period where black men were still look down upon. Battle Royal, is mainly a description of the African American struggle for equality and identity. ... The narrator is a major character who is lost and is in search of his identity. ... " The thing is, the narrator doesn't know either, because for the longest time his identity has been dictated by white-dominated society. ...

• Word Count: 769
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

The narrator, decides to pass for white after numerous variations between assuming his status as a black man who wants to stand for the rights of black people and adopting the identity of a white man. In fact, identity, for this character, was never stable, since he lived the first years of his life not knowing he was classified as black, then he lived as a black man for a period of time, and after some years he decided to adopt a white identity, which may seem a new identity at first, but is a return to the beginning of his life, when he used to believe he was a white boy. ... However, h...

• Word Count: 977
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

Secondly, the impact of colonial powers creating colonial states and the depredation it had left on African minds, identity and people. ... In Pre-colonial Africa, people had several identities at the same time. ... The notion of identity within pre-colonial Africa was fluid and flexible; it tended to change with the environment of the individual. ... Not only did the colonial state provide a simpler way of understanding identity, the colonial state provided religion and schooling systems in order to conduct the behavior of the colonized subjects. ... It can be seen that the main Holy Grail...

• Word Count: 2491
• Approx Pages: 10
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

Roediger's, "The Wages of Whiteness: Race and the Making of the American Working Class," Roediger reveals a complex connection between nineteenth century white race identity and the development of the American working class. ... He fervently argues that white workers self conceptions were profoundly impacted by a language composed from not only racism, but also a great degree from the growing white workers construction of their own identity (primarily due to the fear of dependency on wage labor). ... This provided the foundation for the, "whiteness," identity formed out of the ...

• Word Count: 1029
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

Race is a central focus in the novel Caucasia and allows its readers to take notice that Birdie's ability to disappear can be greatly appreciated and considered a blessing and we see this through identifications such as her standpoint, identity and race in general. ... Although Birdie's standpoint has allowed her to see both white and black races viewpoint, it has dramatically influenced how she feels about herself and who she is, race plays a crucial role in her identity. Author Danzy Senna shows her audience how identities of nationality and race are intersectionally and socially c...

• Word Count: 1531
• Approx Pages: 6
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

We then must look into whether the characters are choosing racial identity based on the recollection of their mothers in Maggie, or the inclination to ascribe negative characteristics to another race. ... Nonetheless, we are still left with the questions, "what the hell happened to Maggie" and what does that mean for the racial identity of these women?" The racial identities of these women are irrelevant, as the story's purpose is to evoke the use of social cues for attempted reason. ... The implications to this are apparent in our effort to determine the racial identity of Twyla and Rob...

• Word Count: 1383
• Approx Pages: 6
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

Specifically, white people involved in Hip-hop sparks debates and controversy about their appropriation and interpretation of Hip-hop music, which is typically assumed to be part of the black culture and black social identity (Kitwana, 2005). ... This subconsciously reminds receivers about the cultural object that Hip-hop has become an identity which is dangerous and violent. ... Another example comes from the documentary "Blacking Up: Hip Hop's remix of race and identity". ... With all the rage about "black rage", it is clear that the main selling point of Hip-hop cul...

• Word Count: 2033
• Approx Pages: 8
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

Angelou went from being a victim of racism and inferiority complex into self-awareness, develops a sense of self-identity, responds to racism with dignity, and shows the lives and identities of women in male dominated society. ... Maya eventually broke the race barrier, became the first black streetcar operator in San Francisco, and assertively responded to her white employer and embraced racial identity and shed off self-loathing. ...

• Word Count: 649
• Approx Pages: 3
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

The Harlem Renaissance transformed African-American identity and history, but it also transformed American culture in general. ... Their collective efforts not only established this new African-American identity, but also contributed to the development of our modern American culture. ... Poets and other literary writers published several of articles, poems, and books, which extended and embraced the transformed identity of African-Americans. ...

• Word Count: 783
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

Not only did the Harlem Renaissance transform African American identity and history, but it also transformed American culture in general. ... Their writing also defined the African American heritage and celebrated their new identity as Americans. ... The diverse literary expression of the Harlem Renaissance ranged from the fiction of James Weldon Johnson and the poetry of Claude Mckay which described the reality of black life in America and the struggle for racial identity. ... Some common themes and aims that were used in the writings included alienation, marginality, the use of folk material...

• Word Count: 1369
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

She is most recognized for her career in poetry, whereby her style of writing was directed to self-empowerment, and to encourage people to rise over all odds and take personal pride of one's identity. ... For instance, she writes about the difficulties and discrimination that African Americans experienced during the Jim Crow laws while inspiring people to embrace their identity. ... Using the poem, she presents how African American women are depicted in the society and deflects the perception by encouraging the women to embrace cultural confidence and identity. ... Angelou relied on blac...

• Word Count: 1524
• Approx Pages: 6
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

Apartheid, literally meaning separateness or setting apart , was the ideology of the South African National Party that made the segregation of and discrimination against non-whites government policy. In this paper I will discuss how two different theories of state repression can be applied to the Apartheid regime in South Africa. I will discuss how High Modernism, a theory constructed by James Scott, and Organic Nationalism, a theory put forth by Michael Mann, contributed to Apartheid ideology. High Modernism rationalized, regulated, structured, and reorganized South Africa into a society t...

• Word Count: 2509
• Approx Pages: 10
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

Additionally, the motifs that drives the characters and their actions displays the immoral aspects of human character and the loss of identity one can suffer. Ultimately, Jackson and Ellison demonstrate the immoral aspects of human nature, loss of identity one can experience and the hidden violence in society. ... Shirley Jackson and Ralph Ellison successfully portray the immoral aspects of human nature, loss of identity one can experience and the hidden violence in society from a psychological perspective. ...

• Word Count: 1232
• Approx Pages: 5
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

I am just a poor boy, Though my story's seldom told, I have squandered my resistance For a pocketful of mumbles, Such are promises. All lies and jest. Still, a man hears what he wants to hear And disregards the rest. - Simon & Garfunkel, The Boxer, 1970 Pudd'nhead Wilson & Those Extraordinary Sins Interpreting Mark Twain's work within our distinctly American cultural heritage has absorbed the careers of countless literary scholars. ...

• Word Count: 3141
• Approx Pages: 13
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

Walker's short story raises questions about how identity, tradition and ideology are connected to each other and provides her own personal answer to it. ... This paper intends to highlight how Walker's message can be interpreted to showcase the importance of using and living, to a certain extent, in ones traditions to make them truly a part of one's identity. ... Quilting was something that kept Black women sane during their slavery (Cash 31), could provide and out from slavery by a way to pay for their freedom, (Cash 33), it was a way to support moral, political and reform iss...

• Word Count: 1911
• Approx Pages: 8
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

The Revolution changed the social rank of race and gender in America. African Americans, Native Americans, and women during the American Revolution experience a small amount of equality. There was an erosion of class differentiation because of the new ideals that the Revolution supported. Egalita...

• Word Count: 290
• Approx Pages: 1
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

For example, Toni Morrison, in her critical text Playing in the Dark, has argued that everything that constitutes whiteness as a racial identity--from the national literature of the United States to its Constitution to the daily practices of its citizens--is a response to the absent/objectified presence of the black Other or, in her words, "to a dark, abiding, signing Africanist presence" (5). ...

• Word Count: 301
• Approx Pages: 1
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

The quest for identity is another prevalent theme of slave narratives, but there are differences in formation of identity between the two authors presented here. ... Such details as birth dates, family ties among slaves and parentage, which are basic for constructing an identity, were withheld from slaves in order to prevent them from establishing a sense of self that could lead to alliances or organized rebellions. ...

• Word Count: 1523
• Approx Pages: 6
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

An oppressive system can work in different ways to achieve the same outcome, create inequalities of power. At the micro level, the media can play a huge role in how minorities are viewed. For example, for years the media influenced how people viewed slavery. While the abolitionists fought to dest...

• Word Count: 1414
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

The Interplay Between Ignorance and Evidence Apart from the dubious and dangerous origins of the term race, we also have the problem of misunderstanding concepts which apply themselves to our practical reason " of chameleon-like terms which confuse the understanding of identity issues. ... Thus, we attach stereotypical identities and cultural baggage to groups of people in a completely arbitrary and capricious way. ...

• Word Count: 1166
• Approx Pages: 5
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

A New Negro was to evolve, who, as a new social character, would be able to successfully deal with external and internal factors influencing not only his social status but also his self-identity and individuality. ... Blacks were to engage in African and African-American art in order to develop a common identity and bring along social and political change. ...

• Word Count: 1285
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: Undergraduate