Individual and Collective Identities

Identify Yourself

Individual and Collective Identities

This assignment provides students with the opportunity to explore, identify, and create a symbolic representation of key aspects of their identity.

Students will:

explore the features and characteristics that help to shape their individual identities
evaluate and judge these features and characteristics according to the degree to which they influence their individual identities
express an understanding of the essential nature of their identities in a creative way
explain their chosen features and characteristics
justify the features and characteristics identified as most influential on their identities

Students should follow these basic steps in the completion of this assignment:

Individually identify features and characteristics that form part of your identity. List as many features and characteristics as possible (minimum 12) from the following categories:

Choose one or two features /characteristics from each category that you would identify as being most important or significant to your identity. Use the following criteria in making these judgments:

how much does the feature or characteristic impact how others see me
how much does the feature or characteristic impact how I see and feel about myself

Narrow the list further by sorting the selected features into 3 categories: extremely influential, very influential, and somewhat influential. Use the same criteria as you did in number 2 in order to do this. Then choose the 6 most influential features or characteristics that shape your identity.

Now that you have your six features and characteristics you can to begin the formal portion of your assignment. The assignment will be completed in three parts:

Part A: Symbolic Representation - Create (draw, paint, etc.) symbols that represent each of the six most influential aspects of your identity
Part B: Written Explanation and Justification - For each of the six symbols, explain in detailed written form:
the nature of the feature or characteristic
how this feature affects how others see you
how this feature affects how you see and feel about yourself

Part C: Assignment Response – in a detailed fashion respond to the following questions:
How does gender define you?
To what extent is your identity defined by your age?
How big a factor are your family’s customs and traditions to your identity?
Where do you get your values?
Who are your heroes and how do they impact your identity?
How might your identity change if you moved to another province or country?
Review your extended list of influential features. Which of these features are local in scope? Which of these features are global in scope? Explain.

Evaluation:

/ 30 Marks Total