<p>Topic: Is identity something people are born with or given, or is it something people create for themselves? Plan and write an essay in which you develop your point of view on this issue. Support your position with reasoning and examples taken from your reading, studies, experience, or observations.</p>
<p>My Essay:</p>
<pre><code> Identity is something that people create for themselves. People are not born into an identity. This can be shown by the situations of people like Howard Schultz, Oprah Winfrey, and Bill Clinton.
Howard Schultz was not born into very much but has come to gain a lot. He was born into a poor family. His dad was a trucker his mom washed dishes, so he was not born into very much wealth. However he was a hard worker, and got hired by a coffee company, Starbucks. He used his expertise to advise the owners of the company who were stagnant. He quit and made his own coffee company. The owners of the company sold of the Starbucks name to Howard, and he expand that coffee enterprise to much more. Now a Starbucks is at nearly every corner of a city. This shows how he made his identity. He was not born as a forever indigent being, but he worked hard and became a legend.
Similarly Oprah Winfrey was no born into much. She was the precipitate of two teenagers. She went from one abusive relative to the next because she could not stay with her mother. She finally ended up at her father's house where he encouraged her to concentrate on school. Even with all the problems she faced through her childhood she blossomed at school. In fact, she was an honors student. She continued succeeding and graduated from college, the first of her family to do so. Next she became the first black woman to work as a news anchor. Recently she has had her own television show that is viewed by many people. In fact, she is also one of the richest people in the world. Oprah truly shows that people make their identities. She created her identity as a hardworking and idolized person through hard work and dedication.
Bill Clinton also created his identity. He was born into a very poor family. However, Bill made the best of his situation. He work hard at school, while working to keep his family from losing all its money. He worked so hard he got the prestigious Rhodes Scholar Award. More recently, he was president. This poor man went from without a penny to the president of the United States. Thus, he did not take up an identity as a poor lazy man, but he had taken the identity of a former president. Bill made his own identity and did not settle for anything but the top.
Identities are not adopted by people, but they are indeed created by people. None of these household names that I mentioned were born into riches or fame, but each and every one worked hard and succeeded, thus creating their own identities.
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<p>Thank You :)</p>