Annotated Bibliography - Identity

Cynthia Shammas
Mr. Langevin
ENG3U-02-English
26 July 2019
The theme of identity
An Annotated Bibliography
White, E.B. “Once More to the Lake.”
cdsbeo.elearningontario.ca/d2l/le/content/, (1941)
Once more to the lake is a personal essay written by E.B.
White in which he establishes ties between his present and past
life experiences. White reflects on his own childhood when his
father would take him to the lake. He then explains that now he
is taking his son to that very same spot and reliving all the
memories from when he was a little kid. Throughout the essay,

White suffers from an identity crisis by experiencing a dual
existence while he was spending time with his son at the lake.
This dual existence becomes evident whenever he has hard
time distinguishing himself from his son. Often White is lost to
the setting, causing him to weave in and out of the past and
present. “There had been no years between the ducking of this
dragonfly and the other one - the one that was part of memory.
I looked at the boy, who was silently watching his fly, and it was
my hands that held his rod, my eyes watching. I felt dizzy and
didn't know which rod I was at the end of.” By the end of the
essay White was finally able to acknowledge his true identity
that he is now the father and no longer the child. In his son’s
image, he stopped seeing himself; he came full circle accepting
his own death. He has recognized that his son’s maturation is a
sign that White is getting closer to death.

Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby (Wisehouse Classics Edition).
Wisehouse. Kindle Edition.
The Great Gatsby is a novel written by F. Scott Fitzgerald,
it’s about the efforts of this one-man Jay Gatsby to reinvent
himself. The narrator of the story is Nick Carraway who moved
out to New York from the Midwest and ends up living next door
to Gatsby. We see the whole story from Nick’s point of view as
he meets wealthy people from the upper class and gradually
gets to know Gatsby. Nick falls in love with the idea of Gatsby
and what he represents, Gatsby is an irrepressible dreamer he
has a really extravagant lifestyle and throws incredible parties.
However, this persona is not his true identity, he actually grew
up poor and his real name is James Gatz. Years earlier he fell in
love with a rich girl named Daisy but he couldn’t marry her
because he didn’t have any money. The book is set in the

summer of 1922 after the World War One. After Gatsby came
back from the war, he found out that his lover Daisy is married
to Tom Buchanan and made it his ultimate goal to win her back.
Later on, we learned that Daisy is not happy in her marriage
and that Tom has girlfriend and is cheating on her. Gatsby got
involved in gambling and bootlegging which he did through his
ties to a mob and that’s how he earned his fortune hoping to
impress Daisy. At the plaza hotel they all get a suit and there
Gatsby confronted Tom and said he loves Daisy. On their way
back Daisy was driving Gatsby’s car and she hit Myrtle (Tom’s
mistress) and killed her. Thinking it was Gatsby who killed his
wife George Wilson went to Gatsby’s house and killed him in
his pool and then shot himself.
Jay was not comfortable in his own skin; he was ashamed and
disgusted with who he was and the social class he belonged to.
Gatsby tried desperately to disguise and change his true
identity. Gatsby struggled with an identity crisis and had serious
trouble with who he was and who he wanted to be. Gatsby had
an image in his mind for himself, which was very different from
how the society and the norms of the day had defined and
categorized him. The reason Jay changes his name and family
history is because he wanted a new identity to reflect his new
lifestyle. To him “James Gatz” was a lower-class farm boy that
will never be able to get out of his mold to achieve the success
and luxury he dreams of. He believed that creating a new
person was the answer to all of his problems and the wrecking
ball that will break his mold. Jay and James are the same person
but their personalities and way of life are very different. Gatsby
now is strong, free and can make all the choices he wants that
would otherwise have been impossible in his old identity.

Downie, Gord. Secret Path. Illustrated by Jeff Lemire, Simon &
Schuster. Kindle Edition.
Chanie Wenjack was an Ojibwe First Nations boy who ran
away from Cecilia Jeffery Indian Residential School near Kenora
Ontario where he stayed for three years. He died at the age of
twelve of hunger and exposure to harsh weather while trying to
walk 600km back to his father’s home.
These residential schools were government-sponsored religious
institutions that were established to abduct the true identity of
the Indigenous children and turn them into Euro-Canadians.
The school system was created for the purpose of removing
Indigenous children from the influence of their own culture and
assimilating them into the dominant Canadian culture, "to kill
the Indian in the child."

Koul, Scaachi. “Can TV Make Us Not Hate Ourselves?” Editorial.
BuzzFeed. cdsbeo.elearningontario.ca/d2l/le/content/, 2015
The author’s tone in this essay is reflective. She’s looking
back at her identity as an Asian brown girl living in a Canadian
society. In particular, the role different TV shows played in
shaping her awareness as not-a-white person. These shows
with the absence of the people of color in them had proven to
be the conversation partner who assured her conclusions
turning them into beliefs. “The whole world felt white when I
was younger. There wasn’t a version of me anywhere—few on
television, fewer in movies, and none in my day-to-day life who
weren’t related to me.” She doesn’t stop at the borderline of
her personal experience. In this essay the author experienced
significant self-loathing. She truly hated her identity, race and
the fact that she was not born white. For her being brown is
shameful and disgusting, it is the ‘plague’ she was born with
and trying to cure from. She was suffering from an identity
crisis and many internal struggles. She hated every aspect of
what makes her who she is and defines her identity. She
wanted to be in a relationship with a white man so bad in order
to feel worthy of herself.
Gladwell, Malcolm. “Carlos Doesn’t Remember.”
cdsbeo.elearningontario.ca/content/
Carlos is a brilliant student from South Los Angeles. His
name is telling (Hispanic) but not important. What is important
and reveals a great deal of this young man’s identity is the
place: South Los Anglos (the poor side of the city). Identity here
is not individual or personal. Carlos is the name and voice of
thousands of poor smart kids. To buy a ticket out of such a
situation, a help from Eric, someone from the rich side of the
city, is needed. In other words, to change your identity, you
need someone from the right side of the city to be your
advocate.

Annotated Bibliography - Identity

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Annotated Bibliography - Identity

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Description:

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Annotated Bibliography - Identity

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Cynthia Shammas

The theme of identity

White, E.B. “Once More to the Lake.”

Once more to the lake is a personal essay written by E.B.

White in which he establishes ties between his present and past

life experiences. White reflects on his own childhood when his

memories from when he was a little kid. Throughout the essay,

This dual existence becomes evident whenever he has hard

time distinguishing himself from his son. Often White is lost to

present. “There had been no years between the ducking of this

essay White was finally able to acknowledge his true identity

image, he stopped seeing himself; he came full circle accepting

his own death. He has recognized that his son’s maturation is a

sign that White is getting closer to death.

Wisehouse. Kindle Edition.

The Great Gatsby is a novel written by F. Scott Fitzgerald,

it’s about the efforts of this one-man Jay Gatsby to reinvent

himself. The narrator of the story is Nick Carraway who moved

to Gatsby. We see the whole story from Nick’s point of view as

he meets wealthy people from the upper class and gradually

and what he represents, Gatsby is an irrepressible dreamer he

has a really extravagant lifestyle and throws incredible parties.

However, this persona is not his true identity, he actually grew

because he didn’t have any money. The book is set in the

Later on, we learned that Daisy is not happy in her marriage

involved in gambling and bootlegging which he did through his

ties to a mob and that’s how he earned his fortune hoping to

Gatsby confronted Tom and said he loves Daisy. On their way

wife George Wilson went to Gatsby’s house and killed him in

his pool and then shot himself.

identity. Gatsby struggled with an identity crisis and had serious

history is because he wanted a new identity to reflect his new

lifestyle. To him “James Gatz” was a lower-class farm boy that

and luxury he dreams of. He believed that creating a new

would otherwise have been impossible in his old identity.

Schuster. Kindle Edition.

Chanie Wenjack was an Ojibwe First Nations boy who ran

away from Cecilia Jeffery Indian Residential School near Kenora

Ontario where he stayed for three years. He died at the age of

twelve of hunger and exposure to harsh weather while trying to

walk 600km back to his father’s home.

These residential schools were government-sponsored religious

institutions that were established to abduct the true identity of

the Indigenous children and turn them into Euro-Canadians.

The school system was created for the purpose of removing

Indigenous children from the influence of their own culture and

assimilating them into the dominant Canadian culture, "to kill

the Indian in the child."

BuzzFeed. cdsbeo.elearningontario.ca/d2l/le/content/, 2015

The author’s tone in this essay is reflective. She’s looking

back at her identity as an Asian brown girl living in a Canadian

society. In particular, the role different TV shows played in

shaping her awareness as not-a-white person. These shows

with the absence of the people of color in them had proven to

be the conversation partner who assured her conclusions

was younger. There wasn’t a version of me anywhere—few on

television, fewer in movies, and none in my day-to-day life who

weren’t related to me.” She doesn’t stop at the borderline of