Black

AnnaBlack
RWW9,Class1
Ms.Bartz
April18,2016
HomeSweetHome
Therearemanydifferentplacesforsomeonetogrowup:cityorcountry,coldorwarm,
safeordangerous.Onelocationmaynothaveanysimilaritiestoanother.Intodayssociety,
hometownsareapartofapersonslifeandpeoplealwaysendupreflectingontheirhometown.
Mostpeoplemaybelievethatwheresomebodygrowsupisrandomanddoesnotaffectaperson
atall,whenitisreallytheopposite.Thebiggestcontributingfactortoidentityiswhereaperson
growsup.
Everyhometownhasitsownvalues.Thevaluesofapersonwillreflectwhereaperson
wasborn.MarkTwain,afamousAmericanauthor,oncesaid,InBostontheyask,howmuch
doesheknow?InNewYork,howmuchisheworth?InPhiladelphia,whowerehisparents?
MarkTwainplacedemphasisonthevaluesofdifferentcities.Eachresidentinacitystrivesfor
whatisvaluedintheirtown.Theiridentityisshapedaroundthevaluesoftheirhometown
becausetheyrevolvearoundthemoralstheyhaveknownsincebirth.Thesevaluesnotonly
differbetweencities,buttheydifferbetweencountriesaswell.Forinstance,EmilyBadger,a
writer,wrote,Americaistypicallydescribedashavingitsowncharacterandvalues,prizing
freedom,libertyandindividualism.Ifapersonisborninacountrywithfreedomandmany
privileges,theirvalueswillbeextremelydifferentthansomeonewhoisborninacountrythat
doesnothavealotofadvantages.Whetherthemoralsaresimpleorcomplex,theywillinfluence


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theidentityofaperson.Thedifferencesineveryonesmoralsleadstoindividualism.Aperson
becomestheirvalues.Ifeveryplacehasdifferentvalues,apersonisdefinedbytheirhometown.
Hometownsalsocanexposeorshelterapersonfromtheworldanddifferentpeople.One
bloggerwhogrewuparoundmanydifferentpeoplesaidthefollowing:
Growingupina
culturallydiverseneighborhoodhasshapedmetobeamoreacceptingandknowledgeable
individual.Ifsomeoneisexposedtodifferentpeopleintheirhometown,itaffectstheiridentity.
Itallowsthemtobeawareofothersbeforeleavingtheircity.Theidentityofapersonwouldbe
moreadvancediftheywereexposedtomorepeoplewheretheygrewup.Notonlycanthe
exposuretopeopleinfluenceidentity,buttheexposuretotheworldingeneralinfluences
identity.Thesamebloggerwhogrewupexposedtotheworldalsosaid,SometimeswhenI
thinkaboutitI'mgladthatIwasn'tbornwithagoldenspoonbecausenowIammoreculturally
awareandhavealsogainedknowledgeof"streets"somethingthatcan'tbetaughtthrough
school.
Ifahometowngaveeverythingtoaperson,theywouldnotbeexposedtotheproblems
oftheworldaroundthem.Theywouldbeshelteredandwouldnothaveanyknowledgeaboutthe
worldassoonastheyleftthenest.Thiswouldaffecttheiridentitybecausetheywouldthinkthat
everythingwouldbehandedtothem.Theexposureorshelterofahometownlargelyaffectsa
personsidentity.
Ontheotherhand,somepeoplemaythinkthatahometowndoesnothaveanaffectona
personsidentityatall.However,theplacewhereapersongrowsupisthefoundationforthe
earlyyearsofoneslife.Ifapersonlivestheirlifearoundacity,alloftheirmemoriesare
possiblebecauseofthatsetting.Evenifapersonhadnotbeenaffectedbytheirhometownata
youngage,theywouldgrowupbeingaffectedbyitbecausetheiridentitywouldnotbe


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complete.Nomattertheimportanceofahometown,identitywillalwaysbeaffectedbywherea
persongrowsup.
Theplacewhereapersongrowsupisthebiggestfactortoidentity.Boththevaluesand
theexposureofahometownaffectapersonandtheiridentity.Whenapersonsidentityis
largelyaffectedbytheirhometown,theywillfeelwelcomeandasiftheywillalwayshavea
placetheycancallhome.Ifapersongrowsupcompletelyunaffectedbytheirhometown,they
willfeellostandincomplete.Partoftheiridentitywouldbemissing,andtheywouldstruggle
withoutknowingtheyhadaplacethatalwayswelcomedthemback.


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WorksCited
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Kirp,DavidL."HereComestheNeighborhood."
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"TurnsOutWhereYouLiveReallyDoesShapeWhoYouAre."
CityLab
.N.p.,n.d.Web.10
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Ward,Lucy."WhereYouLiveCanBeCrucialtoYourFuture."
TheGuardian
.GuardianNews
andMedia,07Sept.2007.Web.10Apr.2016.