A cultural identity essay describes a type of academic paper where the writer expresses the effect of upbringing, location, religion, ethnicity, and socio-economic factors on their identity. This type of essay helps us to identify with who we truly are – our origin and roots. An essay on cultural identity focuses on several elements, such as nationality, gender, religion, language, location, and history.
An identity essay is similar in structure to other types of academic essays. A primary difference is that in an essay on identity, the writer uses the 1st person when writing. In a cultural identity essay, you’re mostly not required to provide any sources because an identity paper describes personal feelings, experiences, emotions, and knowledge. When writing a paper on identity, there are hardly any wrong answers.
How To Write A Cultural Identity Essay
The format for writing a cultural identity essay is similar to that of other types of essays – introduction, body, and conclusion. Here is a handy guide to writing a cultural identity paper.
- Introduction
The introduction helps you to hint and interest readers about your cultural identity. Start with a striking statement about your cultural identity and quickly put to use your presentation skills. To better express an idea, pose a thesis statement in the first paragraph and explain how you will answer that question in the second paragraph. Summarize the whole essence of the essay at the end of the second paragraph. Your introduction section should not be more than 10% of the essay.
- Body
The body takes the bulk of any essay and contains vital information. The body can be divided into several smaller paragraphs, each emphasizing different but connecting elements. Always remember the following when writing the body of your essay.
- Begin the paragraph with a solid argument.
- Give some evidence of real-life occurrences.
- Use transitions to link the ideas so that they appear as one.
- Always include a topic sentence in each paragraph so that the reader immediately knows what the paragraph is about.
- Conclusion
A cultural identity essay conclusion summarizes the information in the body paragraphs. The conclusion could be in two paragraphs: The first, which reiterates your thesis statement, and the second, which gives a summary of your cultural identity and its effect on you. Keep it short and straight to the point.
Cultural Identity Essay Example
Now that you know the features of a cultural identity essay, we shall consider an example of a personal cultural identity essay. As an American, my cultural identity essay example will be an American cultural essay and also doubles as a reflective essay on cultural identity. So if I am to write a cultural identity essay about myself, my cultural identity essay will go something like this:
My name is Aiden, an only child. I was born in Los Angeles, but my family moved to Boston when I was 18 months old. My father is Irish and identifies very strongly with the Irish culture. He immigrated to America when he was 25 years old. My mother is Chinese but immigrated to America when she was 20. They met during graduate school in the United States. We live in a large house in Allston, and both my parents were very religious and have been Catholics all their life.
I was brought up with a knowledge of both Irish and Chinese heritage. The traditions of my parents, including the cultural diversity of Allston, one of Boston’s most diverse neighborhood, has shaped my views of life. Influenced by my dad, my appetite for potatoes and Irish literature is insatiable. From my mum, I have learned the core values of harmony, courtesy, benevolence, wisdom, and loyalty. Both my parents infused in me a robust sense of work ethics and morality that have greatly influenced my daily life.
Sports were not my thing because both my parents preferred that I faced my studies. My mother always expected me to ace my math and science exams, but for some weird reasons, I didn’t like those subjects. I was very active in Literature classes, theater, and music. With the support and blessings of my parents, I opted to study English at Harvard University. To this day, I remain close to my family as we have much in common.
Most of my friends have different racial, religious, economic, and ethnic backgrounds. Among my friends, two are Indian, one Nigerian, one British, two Chinese, and three Irish. I can connect with them because I have learned to accept people of all cultures and races without prejudice. Most of them are musicians, writers, or artists. I do not take the values I have learned for granted for the differing background of my parents have given me a broader view of life.
Now that you’ve seen my cultural identity essay example, I’m sure you’ll be able to write yours!
Different things influence cultural identity. In my case, my ethnic background and family values did. In your case, it might be completely different. The following questions could guide you in writing your essay.
- How did the foods you ate growing up influence your identity?
- Were you any different from other kids in school?
- What events have impacted you most?
- Did being an only child or the order of birth influence who you are as an adult?
- Does your life today match your upbringing?
Cultural Identity Essay Topics
The right cultural identity essay topic will do you good like a medicine and spark the right cultural identity essay ideas. Here are ten examples of cultural identity essay topics to help you start with your best foot forward.
- Traditions and Customs in my Country.
- The Singular Most Important Event that Influenced My Personality.
- How What We Eat Makes Us Who We Are.
- The Places That Shaped My Life Forever.
- Our Cultural Identity influences our Everyday Life.
- Creating Commercials: The Cultural identity Factor.
- How Albert Einstein’s Cultural Identity Influenced His Work.
- The Cultural Identity of Irish Immigrants.
- Why We Should Preserve Our Cultural Identity.
- The Effect of Cultural Identity on Socialization.
Identity Theft Research Paper
When other individuals illegally use the personal data of another individual, it is termed identity theft. This theft is usually either for material gain or victimization. In this age of technology, sometimes even a victim’s name is enough to commit this theft. In writing an identity theft research paper, details on common ways to commit identity theft, types of identity theft, and other such information will give you a robust paper.
Gender Identity Paper
Gender identity is a scope of emotions and beliefs rather than the conventional understanding of a male and female dichotomy. How individuals view themselves and what pronouns they prefer to be called determine who they are. Gender plays a significant role in socialization events throughout a child’s life. So in writing a gender identity paper, one should not hesitate to emphasize their gender identity clearly.
Writing a cultural identity essay is fun when you know what to do. Ready to have an A+? Apply these tips or get expert writing help!
