Poem on Identity

Identity Crisis
by: Jake Erkens

You wake up in the morning
And notice not everything is okay
Starring at the mirror, you take a long look
And see someone else, and not yourself

Your going through a identity crisis
Not knowing who you are and what you are
There is no place where you feel okay
Because you don't know yourself at all

It's okay, just take another look
And make a decision on who
You want to be, and what yo want to be
Stop dreaming of being someone your not

Identity crisis, stop and don't make her cry
A single tear anymore
You've got to recognize your own beauty
And accept who you are

Identity crisis
Please quickly pass by
Don't let her cry
Dry her tear

Show her who she is
Reflect her inner beauty
And don't let her feel ugly
Identity crisis

Pass quickly by
Leave her
Let her know who she is
Tell her shes beautiful

Show her who she really is
Let her neglect her other side
You've got to hold on and believe
In yourself, and who you are!
http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/identity-crisis-7/


EQ: How does what i know about the world shape the way we view ourselves?

This poem "Identity crisis" was able to relate to identity because it said like we could not recognize ourselves when we looked into the mirror in the morning from the quote" Starring at the mirror, you take a long look. And see someone else, and not yourself"(line2-4) And it showed that we did not know what our true identity was and we could not feel like knowing ourselves. But at the same time, while we could not recognize ourselves, we hoped to become another person. The reasons behind was that nowadays, most boy like skinny and good-looking girls while girls like sunny and handsome guys. When we all shaped and view the world this way, we would feel that we are ugly. "Identity crisis, stop and don't make her cry. A single tear anymore,You've got to recognize your own beauty. And accept who you are" (line 13-16) , in this quote, we hoped that all the identity crisis could be gone and all of us would be back ourselves and not thinking of we are ugly that made us feel bad.

Brother Dear's Response

EQ: How are people transformed through relationship with others?

In the story" Brother Dear" , Sharlene hoped to travel around Europe after high school for a couple of years " I have these dreams of running off to Europe for a couple of years, being a nanny and learning a language or two." (10), this showed that she wanted to go travelling after high school and continue studying University when she was back. However, with his relationship with her brother and father, she knew that her wish could not be worked out at that moment because her father wanted her to study well and have a bright and wonderful future instead. Also, when her brother came home telling father that he would not be going back to University again, her father was really mad at him. Therefore, with her father and brother, although Sharlene wanted to leave right away after high school, she had to follow his father's desire and travelling was never going to be happening before University.

Response on essential question on "The Charmer"

How are people transformed through their relationship with others?

    Throughout one's relationship with others, one may be able to learn from others and not making the same mistake that they make anymore. However, on the other side, one may be following what the other has done and not realizing that it is wrong. In this short story" The Charmer", it was narrated in third person by a young girl Winnifred. Winnifred has a brother named Zachary. He grew up as a happy and popular young man and overwhelmed with his family's love and care. " I was Zachary's willing slave", from this sentence said by Winniefred, it shows that the family would not mind doing anything for Zack as long as he was happy. Because of all these love and caring, Zack's life is full of happiness and it made him thought that he could do anything that he should not be doing and still be able to run away with it. And so, when his little sister, Lizzy, who idolized him more than anyone else, was ill, and almost going to die, he did not even bother to visit her. His act of misbehaviour and irresponsibilty caused a lot of conflicts for the family and at the end, his father made him choose from being a slave or leaving, he decided that he should leave. 

   After those years being with Zack,  Winnifred was married and had three children. She knew and understood that she would not let her children to repeat the mistakes that Zack and her parents had been doing.  When two of her daughters was racing into the kitchen and hurled the milk at the opposite wall,the milk flew everywhere, so the curtains and everywhere was sticky with milk. Winnifred did not forgive her easily like how Winnifred's parents treated Zack. But instead, she made her to clean up everywhere and paint the wall again. She wanted her daughters to become a responsible person.  Moreover, from "Thank You, Zachary" that said by Winnifred at the end, this showed the importance of Zachary's existence, because of all the mistakes that he and his parents did, Winnifred would not let her children to continue making those mistakes and be a well- behaved person.

Explain how i connect with Sharlene.

    The way that Bernice Friesen used to create the identity of a character made one unique. Out of the three characters, I think I connected with Sharlene because she said that" I have these dreams of running off to Europe for a couples of years, being a nanny and learning a language or two." after high school, which I had a similar idea with her as well. I had always hoped to leave Vancouver and go to Japan after high school. I wanted to learn more of the Japanese culture and spend a few years there. However, this would never be able to happen to us because both our parents wanted us to have a bright future. They knew that if we spent those years there, we would not want to continue studying anymore. Moreover, Sharlene had a strict father that disciplined her and her brother. This reminded me of my father as well because he was strict and he put a lot of pressure on me. Therefore, with the similar situation as Sharlene, we had the same decision and action, that was continued to be stucked in Grade Eleven.

An image that connects with"The Charmer"

This picture shows a charming man who has a good appearance and from his pose and the way he stood, he looked like a movie star. Also, it seemed like he had his freedom and happy of his life.

This man was able to connect with Zachary in the short story" The Charmer". Zachary grew up as a happy and popular man and he has really charming personality. His friends called him Zach to let him sound like he was a movie star. On the other side, referring to the sentences

" How be you wash my bike for me, Pose, Love?" I would be halfway to the kitchen for bucket and rags before he stopped speaking. (Paragraph 2 line 6-8 ) and " I was Zacery's willing slave." ( Paragraph 8 line 1 )

  These showed that Zach was overwhelmed with his family's love when he was in a young age. Even though he did anything wrong, such as eating the slice of cake that should be for the church, his mother would not punish him. However, the bad thing was that he never appreciated what the others had done for him and therefore, it  soon caused a lot of conflicts between him and the family.