REFLECTIVE WRITING I
For the first assignment in this
paper we were required to share photos with a small caption which highlighted
our views on culture, identity, human rights and history. It was an interesting
learning curve for me personally as I dwelled into really personal territory
and shared views and opinions I wouldn’t normally share in a public forum.
Especially with the ‘identity’ post.
Firstly, we were required to
share about our culture. I chose a picture which I felt represented my culture
well. It was a picture of a group of friends playing ‘Holi’, which is a
religious Hindu festival. In saying that, I personally do not feel like
religion and culture are directly related as I am a former Hindu but I still
partake in various different Hindu festivals etc. This was contradicted by some
other people’s post who mentioned how religion is part of their culture. For me
this is somewhat true, but I feel they aren’t directly related. Personally,
just because I no longer regard myself as a Hindu does not mean that I am not
an Indian either. I can’t simply ignore the things I’ve grown up with, these
being things like religious festivals etc. I not only enjoy the vibrancy of my
culture but also the positivity and the ideals it shares.
The
second post, which was about Identity, I was confused at first what to write
about. I wasn’t exactly sure what a good reflection of my identity was. However,
according to Fearon (1999), which claimed ‘identity’ is a social category
defined by characteristic attributes and socially distinguishing features a
person takes pride upon. Therefore, I chose to write about the characteristics
and traits I’ve picked up from my Father and Brother. Nonetheless, I found it
somewhat difficult write because I lost my Father last year. I noticed some other
people’s identity posts were also about their families and how they’ve been
influenced by their families. This was one of the reasons I wrote my identity
piece as I did. I felt since other people were willing to be so personal I could
also do the same.
The
human rights picture was an interesting photo for me. I felt I wanted to choose
something a little different to what my peers where choosing. Most people were
posting about, poverty, child labour, child poverty etc. I however chose to post
about a human rights issue I’ve faced personally. An issue which is very
common, can be found all around the globe people, has been faced by a majority
of the population and is faced on a daily basis. I chose to speak about racial
discrimination. According to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article
2; everyone has rights without differentiation of any form, including race. However,
despite this I think racism will never end because I see it as a constant
struggle of dominance versus equality.
For the
history post, I decided on a picture of Adolf Hitler saluting his troops as
they seemingly march towards battle I’m assuming. The reason for my choice of
picture was because I felt that World War II was such a significant event in
all of history, and its outcome and effects impacted the world as a whole,
rather than just as individuals or countries. If the war had been won by Nazi
Germany, the liberty and freedom we live in today could have possibly seized to
exist. I felt my post was somewhat different to most other posts because most
people talked about their personal history where I felt I addressed global
history which affected each and every one of us in one way or another.
REFERENCES
·
Fearon, J. D. (1999). What is Identity
(As we now use the word)? Department of Political Science Stanford
University.
·
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights |
United Nations. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.un.org/en/universal-declaration-human-rights/
No comments:
Post a Comment