Self-reflective Paper

Format and Style -Essays should follow the following formatting guidelines:, Font: Times New Roman 12, Spacing: double-spaced, Margins: 1-inch, Page Numbers: lower right corner, Title Page: centered on page 1, underlined, size 12 font,

Who Am I? A Cultural Inventory 3-4 Pages

The purpose of this paper is for you to explore your own values and experiences, and to better understand how your social location influences who you are and how you see the world. You are expected to put time and effort into this assignment! Papers should be both thorough and thoughtful. Papers that are not reflective of considerable time and effort will not receive full credit. When you complete it, think about it for a few days and consider what your answers reveal about who you are and how this shapes you as a person.

Should you feel uncomfortable answering any specific question in the inventory, consider why you do not feel comfortable answering the question. If you choose not to answer any specific question, write a brief explanation about why you have made that choice. Choosing not to answer the question will not affect your grade, however, failure to show insight as to why you have made that choice will. Every effort will be made to insure the confidentiality of your work. Only the professor assigned to the class will read the paper. Directly below is the guideline for completing your paper.

• Into what social and economic class were you born?

• What messages have you received about people in your social & economic class?
• What messages have you received about people who are not in your social & economic class?

• What defines which social & economic class someone is in?

• Into what region or geographical section of the U.S. or world were you born?

• What messages have you received about people from this region or geographical area?

• How do those messages contrast with messages about people from other regions or geographical areas in America and in the world?

• Into what kind of community (urban, suburban, or rural) were you born and raised?

•  How did this experience of community influence how you see the world?
• What blind spots might it have created for you?

1. What is your gender?

1. What is your gender expression?

1. Does your gender expression match the expected gender expression for someone of your gender?

1. What messages have you received about your gender?

1. What messages have you received about other genders?

1. What messages have you received about your sexual orientation?

1. About sexual orientations other than your own? How often do you think of yourself in terms of your sexual orientation?

1.  In what ways has your sexual orientation shaped how you view ideas of family? Relationships? Friendships?

1. What term or terms do you use to identify your race/ethnicity?

•  What messages have you received about this naming?

• What connotations does your race/ethnicity have in the larger society?

•  How often do you think of yourself in terms of your race/ethnicity?

• How has your race/ethnicity shaped how you are in the world?

• What was the linguistic environment into which you were born?

• Monolingual, bilingual, multilingual?

•  How did this impact you?

• How does your linguistic ability enhance or limit your life?

• What is your age?

•  What messages have you received about people of this age?

• What messages have you received about people who are younger than yourself?

• Older than yourself?

• What thoughts do you have about aging?

• What are your physical and intellectual abilities?

•  What messages have you received about people with these abilities?

•  What messages have you received about people who are less physically able than yourself?

• More physically able than yourself?

• How about people who are less intellectually able? Less intellectually able?

• What are your religious or spiritual beliefs or worldview if you do not identify with religion or spirituality?
• What are three key messages you carry about these beliefs?

• What messages have you received about people who are from or practice these beliefs?

• How do those beliefs shape how you view people who have religious or spiritual beliefs that are different from yours?

•  How do these beliefs shape your ideas about right and wrong, good and bad?

• What is your political ideology? What messages have you received about this ideology?

• What challenges does your political ideology pose for you when you encounter someone who disagrees with you politically?

• How free do you feel to express yourself politically?