‘I am a teenage girl.’ ‘I am a Palestinian.’ ‘I am a farmer.’
Discuss
1 Discuss the questions in pairs or small groups.
1
What do you think are the main things that make up who you are: your family? your hobbies? your nationality? anything else?
2
Do you ever feel pressure to be like other people?
Practice
2 Read the three texts quickly. Then answer the questions.
1
Which text probably comes from a ‘problem page’ in a young people’s magazine?
2
Which text probably comes from an academic book?
3
Which text probably comes from a book review?
The source does not include a printed solution for this question. Try solving it, then ask the AI tutor to check.
Practice
3 Read the texts again. Then complete the tasks on page 103.
The source does not include a printed solution for this question. Try solving it, then ask the AI tutor to check.
Reading
Text A
What Professor Gordon is mainly concerned with is the way social and economic changes affect personal identity. The main chapters argue that the ways people used to define themselves – by their profession or nationality for example – are disappearing. ‘People,’ he writes, ‘now find they need to build new identities.’
Later in the book, he describes the different ways people do this. Often, identity is based on consumption (‘I am what I buy’). The growth of social media, however, has led to the greatest change. Nowadays, you are whoever you tell people you are online.
Reading
Text B
All my classmates seem to like the same clothes, music and so on, and do the same kind of things, like playing computer games and chatting on their phones. I pretend to be interested, but if I’m honest, that’s not who I am. I know I should have the confidence to be myself, but the fact is that I don’t. I’m afraid I’ll end up having no friends at all. What should I do?
(Amina, 15)
Don’t worry, you’re not alone. This is such a common worry among young people because the pressure to conform is very strong, both from your peers and from the media generally. I think you’ve answered your own question though: it’s all about feeling confident. How do you know that a lot of your other classmates aren’t also pretending? In a few years’ time, I’m sure you’ll find that your friends find other ways to define themselves.
Reading
Text C
The question of how much of our character is due to biology and how much is shaped by experience (often called the ‘nature or nurture’ argument), has been going on for centuries. It’s a vital question that has implications for many different fields, from psychology to politics. If someone was born selfish, for example, how can we criticise them for their selfishness? If, on the other hand, our character depends on how we are brought up, childcare and education become much more important.
Although the evidence is complex and there are extreme views on both sides, there is a consensus among experts that the definition of an individual is a combination of genetics and upbringing. To put it simply: just because you’re born a certain way doesn’t mean you can’t change.