Interpreting the Identi-kit
In class you will share your identikit in groups, so you might want to consider the theme of your identi-kit, the important elements you have chosen to represent this theme, the important cultural trappings you use to project this identity to the public, who do you project this identity to and why? After you have presented the identi-kit to a group of your peers, you will write an analysis of the image you have created, using the questions outlined in the section “Writing About Your Identi-kit” (91). These questions are not a formula for producing an essay. Instead, they are intended to give you more ways of looking at the identi-kit, ways designed to lead yout o a thesis.
Fiinally, the relationship you see in the three assumptions about identity (in other words, where you born with this aspect of your identity? is this aspect of your id
entity culturally determined? is this aspect of your identity a matter of personal choice?) should help guide you to a thesis. As I pointed out in class, it is not eno
ugh to say, “I like baseball.” or “I am a skater” or “I am a dancer.” A thesis such as “I like baseball because it reminds me of my father,” would allow me to use two
of the assumptions to analyze my identity—my birth into a particular family and the culture of baseball in the 1960s. It is essential to give your essay this sort of f
ocus.
Consult the “Tentative Schedule of Assignments” in your syllabus for the due dates regarding this assignment.