Ethnicity, language, nationality, gender, class, sexuality, religion, affiliations, profession, education, and many other aspects
Background
In this course, we have been discussing how identity construction can depend not just on how we see ourselves, but also on how others see us, and it can involve race, ethnicity, language, nationality, gender, class, sexuality, religion, affiliations, profession, education, and many other aspects. We have also investigated the kinds of conflicts that can arise from identity clashes. Here are a few questions that we have considered. What happens when your self-identity and the identity others build of you are not compatible? What happens when people with different identities are put together? What happens when there is an assumption that everyone in a group shares the same identity? What are some of the challenges in trying to establish your own identity in a new environment?
In your first essay, you used Rodriguez and Alvarez to develop an idea about building identities in a different country or culture. In your second essay, you used Pratt’s article to look at the college classroom as a contact zone, focusing on behaviors that arise from how identities and roles are constructed by the self and others. You were encouraged to use concrete examples from your own experience.
Prompt:
For our third project, we will continue exploring identity building, assimilation, and transculturation in contact zones, with a stronger focus on conflict. We will add a new element that some people can use in dealing with conflict in contact zones: humor. The question for you to keep in mind is: How can humor help deal with the conflicts inherent to contact zones? Use key concepts and examples from Pratt or Rodriguez to explore Rios or Sedaris. This time, I ask that you focus on the texts and refrain from using personal examples.