Essay 4

This semester, you’ve examined the ways in which a person’s education, gender, language, and relationships, among other things, can help shape his or her identity. Write an essay that explains which factors have the greatest influence in shaping a person’s identity. You must use at least one source from Writing on the River and three to five additional sources (from books, database articles, or reputable websites). Remember to include plenty of examples to support and illustrate your argument.
Over the last couple of weeks, we have explored some linguistic strategies employed by speakers and writers to express their identities; some of these are intentional, but many are used subconsciously. Compare some of these strategies and explain what each exposes or expresses about the identity of the speaker/writer and how. Present an argument for which strategy is most effective in revealing identity and explain whether the effect is negative or positive. You must use at least one source from Writing on the River and three to five additional sources (from books, database articles, or reputable websites). Remember to include plenty of examples to support and illustrate your argument.

strategies to compare:

“Txtng is Killing Language. JK!!!” by John McWhorter
“For Catalonia’s Separatists, Language Is The Key To Identity”
“Couples, the Internet, and Social Media”
“The Power of Vulnerability” by Brene Brown
“The Boost Students Need to Overcome Obstacles” by Anindya Kundu

Write an essay of at least 1200 words in response to the above prompt. This includes the first word of the essay to the last word of the essay; the essay title, heading, and Works Cited page are not included in the word count.