Thanks to the COM352 students for contributing a bunch of new pages! I'll be moving these pages into the main area of the wiki soon.

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John Burns Personal Identity Narrative College Writing 112 Section 71 March 9, 2007 Identity -A Mixed Breed Whenever I am asked to define something in my own words, I take a step back and gather my thoughts. I have to take time to think for fear of uttering a less than perfect definition. I want to feel as though I spent some time trying to fashion a definition that people will agree with. The problem I face with defining identity is that it is immaterial and controversial. Some people say identity is only your thinking, some say it is the way you express how you feel, some say identity cannot have a true definition. Is identity simply what makes each person unique? Is identity just a way to describe how people react to certain things? Is identity created by everything we experience? Could identity be all three of those? I believe identity is all three of those ideas, and piecing them together is how I form my definition of identity. I feel that a person’s identity can be described as anything that can possibly be associated with a person. I consider all my interests, thoughts, actions, feelings, and dreams to be a part of my identity. There are many aspects of those five things which I share with other people, such as my unbounded interest in cars or my love of coffee ice cream. At the same time, however, I feel that aspects of those five parts of identity can be unique to a person. For example, whenever I decide to draw something, like a car, I know that my drawing will be unique; no one in the world could draw a car that looks exactly like mine. It is fair to say that identity both makes people unique and is responsible for people having similar interests and tastes. I also believe that saying identity is a way to describe the way people will react to certain things is part of the definition of identity. Although I already said that identity is everything associated with a single person, this definition also works because the only way we can show our identity is by reacting to things in our lives. If I were bored, I may get out some paper and a pencil and draw a car, I have reacted to my boredom by giving myself something to do, I also chose to do something I knew would end my boredom-I chose something that is an interest of mine, and part of my identity. Identity can also partially be defined as everything we experience. I have said that identity can be how we react, but we would have nothing to react to without our experiences. I react to my boredom by drawing a car, but I have to experience the boredom first. I can react to the war on terror, but I have to interact with it first, maybe I read about in a newspaper or on the TV, but if I don’t know about it, it cannot become part of my identity. Identity is everything associated with a person seems like abroad definition, but it is the only true definition. Identity has to do with all things, big and small, no matter what you are thinking, experiencing, or reacting to; you are changing your identity. Thinking back on my entire life I can safely say that this definition always works. It seems that any decision I, or any other person, has made teaches me something. So as long as I experience or react to the choice, I will learn, and my identity will change. Life is all about learning from choices, and identity is all about what one learns from choices.John? 23:27, 30 March 2007 (EDT)