DUE JAN 30

A.) Marjane's identity shifts around which is fairly normal for a teenager. Having been exposed to her Uncle and his stories, plus her parents don't really hide anything from her, and exposure to different people all help shape her identity. That's what growing up is; trying on different identities. Her parents made it possible by getting her posters and buttons and Nikes and a jean jacket from Turkey. A couple older school girls make her want to grow up. Rebellion is strictly forbid in the country she's from but she still manages to rebel; it's in her nature. Her parents encourage demonstrations and sticking to her beliefs, as does her Grandmother, which is something she didn't choose. Perhaps if she was from a different family she would be forced to repress her outrages toward the Islamic government...
Her identity is shaped from her strong moral convictions and need for a better Iran. All of those feelings make her who she is. She has always been and will be stubborn and blunt.



 What parts of your identity come from factors you didn’t choose? Have people

you have known ever had a negative reaction to these factors?  How much
control does someone have over their own identity


B.) When you're little, parents and household environment affect you, you just don't realize it then. Until I got exposure to a household that didn't yell all the time, I thought that's how everyone's house was. People don't change from the factors they were raised around until they are exposed to something else. Something external like a book or movie or another person's opinion. Beliefs and opinions stem from one's identity/personality. Beliefs are conditional and children are very impressionable. The more naive someone is, or the lower their self esteem, the more susceptible they are to be influenced by another person. In middle school I was trying on identities left and right, mostly because others around me were a certain way (so basically for social acceptance) but I totally wretchedly sold out my beliefs. Factors of my identity I didn't choose: I was raised vegetarian, and to be open minded, and to be whoever I wanted, and that everything that went on in my house I was told was "normal." People I have known have had a negative reaction to these; sometimes I can be too empathetic, if that's even a thing. I'm not sure. Also components of your identity include but are not limited to: gender, ethnicity, socio economic status (at least in this country) religion. I personally think identity is personality and beliefs and actions, and that the previous list is apart of it depending on how important you view those things. In Iran there's an ocean of differences between a man and a woman, so yeah.