essay on identity and ethnicity

Cultural Identity Essay

27 August, 2020

12 minutes read

Author:  Elizabeth Brown

No matter where you study, composing essays of any type and complexity is a critical component in any studying program. Most likely, you have already been assigned the task to write a cultural identity essay, which is an essay that has to do a lot with your personality and cultural background. In essence, writing a cultural identity essay is fundamental for providing the reader with an understanding of who you are and which outlook you have. This may include the topics of religion, traditions, ethnicity, race, and so on. So, what shall you do to compose a winning cultural identity essay?

Cultural Identity Paper: Definitions, Goals & Topics 

Before starting off with a cultural identity essay, it is fundamental to uncover what is particular about this type of paper. First and foremost, it will be rather logical to begin with giving a general and straightforward definition of a cultural identity essay. In essence, cultural identity essay implies outlining the role of the culture in defining your outlook, shaping your personality, points of view regarding a multitude of matters, and forming your qualities and beliefs. Given a simpler definition, a cultural identity essay requires you to write about how culture has influenced your personality and yourself in general. So in this kind of essay you as a narrator need to give an understanding of who you are, which strengths you have, and what your solid life position is.

Yet, the goal of a cultural identity essay is not strictly limited to describing who you are and merely outlining your biography. Instead, this type of essay pursues specific objectives, achieving which is a perfect indicator of how high-quality your essay is. Initially, the primary goal implies outlining your cultural focus and why it makes you peculiar. For instance, if you are a french adolescent living in Canada, you may describe what is so special about it: traditions of the community, beliefs, opinions, approaches. Basically, you may talk about the principles of the society as well as its beliefs that made you become the person you are today.

So far, cultural identity is a rather broad topic, so you will likely have a multitude of fascinating ideas for your paper. For instance, some of the most attention-grabbing topics for a personal cultural identity essay are:

• Memorable traditions of your community
• A cultural event that has influenced your personality 
• Influential people in your community
• Locations and places that tell a lot about your culture and identity

Cultural Identity Essay Structure

As you might have already guessed, composing an essay on cultural identity might turn out to be fascinating but somewhat challenging. Even though the spectrum of topics is rather broad, the question of how to create the most appropriate and appealing structure remains open.

Like any other kind of an academic essay, a cultural identity essay must compose of three parts: introduction, body, and concluding remarks. Let’s take a more detailed look at each of the components:

Introduction 

Starting to write an essay is most likely one of the most time-consuming and mind-challenging procedures. Therefore, you can postpone writing your introduction and approach it right after you finish body paragraphs. Nevertheless, you should think of a suitable topic as well as come up with an explicit thesis. At the beginning of the introduction section, give some hints regarding the matter you are going to discuss. You have to mention your thesis statement after you have briefly guided the reader through the topic. You can also think of indicating some vital information about yourself, which is, of course, relevant to the topic you selected.

Your main body should reveal your ideas and arguments. Most likely, it will consist of 3-5 paragraphs that are more or less equal in size. What you have to keep in mind to compose a sound ‘my cultural identity essay’ is the argumentation. In particular, always remember to reveal an argument and back it up with evidence in each body paragraph. And, of course, try to stick to the topic and make sure that you answer the overall question that you stated in your topic. Besides, always keep your thesis statement in mind: make sure that none of its components is left without your attention and argumentation.

Conclusion 

Finally, after you are all finished with body paragraphs and introduction, briefly summarize all the points in your final remarks section. Paraphrase what you have already revealed in the main body, and make sure you logically lead the reader to the overall argument. Indicate your cultural identity once again and draw a bottom line regarding how your culture has influenced your personality.

Best Tips For Writing Cultural Identity Essay

Writing a ‘cultural identity essay about myself’ might be somewhat challenging at first. However, you will no longer struggle if you take a couple of plain tips into consideration. Following the tips below will give you some sound and reasonable cultural identity essay ideas as well as make the writing process much more pleasant:

• Start off by creating an outline. The reason why most students struggle with creating a cultural identity essay lies behind a weak structure. The best way to organize your ideas and let them flow logically is to come up with a helpful outline. Having a reference to build on is incredibly useful, and it allows your essay to look polished.
• Remember to write about yourself. The task of a cultural identity essay implies not focusing on your culture per se, but to talk about how it shaped your personality. So, switch your focus to describing who you are and what your attitudes and positions are. 
• Think of the most fundamental cultural aspects. Needless to say, you first need to come up with a couple of ideas to be based upon in your paper. So, brainstorm all the possible ideas and try to decide which of them deserve the most attention. In essence, try to determine which of the aspects affected your personality the most.
• Edit and proofread before submitting your paper. Of course, the content and the coherence of your essay’s structure play a crucial role. But the grammatical correctness matters a lot too. Even if you are a native speaker, you may still make accidental errors in the text. To avoid the situation when unintentional mistakes spoil the impression from your essay, always double check your cultural identity essay. 

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Home — Essay Samples — Sociology — Ethnicity — How Race And Ethnicity Contribute To Social Identities

How Race and Ethnicity Contribute to Social Identities

• Categories: Ethnicity National Identity Socialization

About this sample

Words: 1051 |

Published: Jan 28, 2021

Words: 1051 | Pages: 2 | 6 min read

Works Cited

• Arnett, J. J. (2007). The myth of peer pressure. Adolescence, 42(166), 1-4.
• Erikson, E. H. (1980). Identity and the life cycle. WW Norton & Company.
• Hall, S. (1990). Cultural identity and diaspora. Identity: Community, culture, difference, 222-237.
• James, W. (2010). The principles of psychology: Volume one. Cosimo, Inc.
• Kivisto, P. (2013). Social identity: Making sense of ourselves. SAGE Publications.
• Meeus, W. H. J. (2011). The study of adolescent identity formation 2000-2010: A review of longitudinal research. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 21(1), 75-94.
• Phinney, J. S., & Ong, A. D. (2007). Conceptualization and measurement of ethnic identity: Current status and future directions. Journal of counseling psychology, 54(3), 271-281.
• Rivas-Drake, D., Seaton, E. K., Markstrom, C., Quintana, S., Syed, M., Lee, R. M., ... & Umaña-Taylor, A. J. (2014). Ethnic and racial identity in adolescence: Implications for psychosocial, academic, and health outcomes. Child development, 85(1), 40-57.
• Tajfel, H., & Turner, J. C. (1979). An integrative theory of intergroup conflict. The social psychology of intergroup relations, 33(47), 74.
• Ward, C., & Kennedy, A. (1999). The measurement of sociocultural adaptation. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 23(4), 659-677.

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Ethnicity Essay: Cultural Background in the Daily Lives of Children and Young People

Introduction, children or young adults and culture or ethnic aspects, impact of ethnicity and culture in the daily lives of children and young people.

The purpose of this essay is to assess the impact that ethnic groups and cultural backgrounds have on the daily lives of children or young people. Many cities and countries around the world are made up of diverse ethnic societies and communities that have different social practices and values.

Cultural backgrounds and ethnicity provide such communities with a sense of uniqueness and differentiation from other societies that might be found within the same city or country. To better understand the topic under discussion a definition of ethnicity and culture should be discussed.

Ethnicity is defined as a social group or community in a certain area that shares similar features which might include language, physical appearance, customs and cultural practices and religion. Ethnicity is also defined as the selected cultural characteristics that are used to identify and categorise people that are viewed to be significantly different from other people within the same social context (Dindyal and Dindyal 2004).

Ethnic groups are the social categories that are used to classify people within the society and they can either be minority or majority groups based on the population of people that belong to these categories.

Ethnic groups in some countries are also referred to as tribes given that they speak a different language from the rest of society (Aggleton et al 2006). Ethnic categorization provides people with a link to their ancestry, biological inheritance as well as cultural information. Ethnicity provides people with a cultural identity that can be used to differentiate them from other people.

Ethnicity therefore provides people with culture given that the concept is a construct of culture (O’Neil 2006). Cultural background or culture is how people in a certain social group or community view things or happenings around the world.

Culture is a pattern of living that is governed by traditions and customs of a particular social group or community. It encompasses aspects such as assumptions, attitudes, values, customs and perceptions that people have on various aspects that affect their daily lives (D’Anastasi and Frydenberg 2005).

The culture of a particular group will determine the sets of beliefs or values that will be shared by members of that group. Cultural values and beliefs are usually handed down from one generation to another to ensure that the traditions of a social group have been maintained and kept intact.

Culture is therefore important to the society as it ensures that certain social practices have been maintained as well as ensuring that the daily lives of human beings have some meaning and purpose. Both culture and ethnicity have a direct impact on the daily lives of human beings, young adults and children as they affect their decisions as well as their personal actions (Alder et al 2009).

According to Montgomery and Kellett (2009) children or young people are described as social phenomenons that are defined by their biological and social maturity as well as their intellectual development. Their maturity levels are usually assigned based on the social meaning that they derive from their cultural settings as well as their ethnic backgrounds.

The idea of a child according to Montgomery and Kellett (2009) refers to a representation of a whole category of young people that are identified by their age and intellectual development and also their social maturity and how this affects their social standing within a particular society or community.

The biological and social immaturity of young people and children is viewed by Raman (2010) to be the only determinant that can be used to gauge a child’s development within the society. This biological/social immaturity is what is used to determine whether the child or young adult is being impacted in a direct or indirect way by ethnicity or their cultural background.

Childhood is viewed to be a stage in the human life cycle that is determined by the level of incompleteness or incompetence that the child or young adult experiences in that period of their life. It is a period where the child or young adult is viewed to lack any flaws or faults by their parents and the community at large.

This is because at this stage they are still maturing and their intellectual capacities are still developing meaning that they cannot be able to differentiate properly between right and wrong.

They also view themselves to be without any flaws or faults as they believe that what they do is right regardless of whether it is wrong or right. Childhood is therefore an important stage in a person’s life as this period is viewed to be important in determining whether the child or young person will be influenced by cultural and ethnic aspects (UNICEF 2006).

Childhood and adolescence in children and young adults is a transitional process that is usually characterised by changes in behaviour and attitudes as well as in personality and physical appearances. These changes are usually brought on by biological and physical changes that take place during puberty that determine how the young adult will develop during this stage.

This stage is deemed to be important as the young adults are highly prone to being affected by various social aspects that take place in their communities or societies. Aspects such as ethnicity or culture are deemed to have an impact on the development of the young adult during this stage of their life (Zastrow and Ashman 2009).

While various cultural and ethnic groups exist in various societies around the world, children and young adults have their own cultural groups that exist in institutions such as schools, churches, recreational facilities and neighbourhoods. Cultural groups such as peer cultures are common in young adolescents where children form friendships based on their age and social status within the social institutions in which they exist in.

According to an analysis conducted by Sociologist William Corsaro (2003) on peer cultures that exist in nursery schools in the US and Italy, he noted that peer cultures that exist among young children were important in socializing them in their interactions with adults in the same social context.

Corsaro (2003) defines peer cultures as a stable set of activities, concerns, beliefs and routines that children share with their peers in their daily lives. Children reproduce peer cultures to reflect their own attitudes and beliefs that are different from those of adults because they involve the use of self discovery and the acquisition of new knowledge to develop their own culture (Montgomery 2009).

Peer cultures generally challenge the societal and community versions of culture where children and young adults are active partners when it comes to forming peer groups and developing meaning to these groups which can be used to develop their own culture. Peer cultures encourage children to participate in activities that they have a common interest in and they also encourage them to fit in with their peers.

Peer cultures according to Montgomery and Kellett (2009) are usually determined by the societal context in which the child or young adult has been brought up in as well as their ethnic backgrounds or tribes.

Children who are from similar ethnic communities are more than likely to form peer cultures in a community or society that is different from theirs. These children are also more than likely to form social groups based on their physical characteristics and also language familiarities.

Children are easily influenced and impacted on by various social aspects that take place within their ethnic or cultural backgrounds. According to Raman (2010) ethnicity and culture have an impact on the development of children and young people’s behaviour as well as their identity and well being in their various social contexts that include school, peer groups, home and other social institutions that exist within the society.

Ethnicity and culture have an impact on the development of children and young adults based on certain variables that include social characteristics, type of ethnic or cultural groups, individual characteristics of the child or young adult, racism or social discrimination within the society that the child is from and the type of language and language fluency (Bolaffi 2004).

Social characteristics such as religion, beliefs, shared values and customs, ethnicity and cultural backgrounds of a community impact on the development of children in that these beliefs or religions determine what practices the child will be involved in within the community.

Social characteristics impact on how children react to various situations in their day to day activities as they regard these characteristics when making decisions on how they will relate to their peers in school and also how they will interact with their colleagues in learning institutions.

The ethnic or cultural group impacts on the development of a child or young person as it provides a child with the ability to communicate in a language that can be understood by other members of the same social group or community. Ethnic groups impact on young adult’s development as they provide them with a sense of identity that can either be ethnic identity, cultural identity, nationality and racial identity.

This sense of identity is important in the development of the young adult’s personality, character and individual characteristics that are deemed to be different from those of other peers within the same social setting (Tudge 2008).

Social discrimination and racism exists in various ethnic communities around the world where various ethnic groups are discriminated against based on their social beliefs, values and customs. Social discrimination impacts on the everyday life of children and young adults based on which ethnic community they come from as well as the cultural practices that are exercised by these ethnic communities.

For example children from African communities are more than likely to experience social discrimination within westernised communities when compared to children from other westernised societies. Also children with Muslim backgrounds are likely to experience some form of racism and social discrimination because of their cultural beliefs, religion, customs and shared practices (Every Child Matters 2010).

Child rearing practices such feeding, demonstration of affection, discipline, teaching and moral reasoning influence the rate of a child’s development within the social context. Such practices also determine whether ethnicity and cultural practices will have an impact on the daily life of the child or young person.

For example feeding in some westernised societies is deemed to impact on the intellectual development of a child while in traditional societies feeding is deemed to be a mark of growth and maturity in childhood.

Some traditional societies and ethnic groups view the demonstration of affection by parents or caregivers to be a sign of weakness and poor self esteem in young children while westernised societies view affection to be an important aspect in the building up of self confidence and esteem in young children.

Such child rearing practices that have their basis on ethnicity and cultural backgrounds will therefore affect how a child will grow up and perform within their social settings (Montgomery and Kellett 2009).

Montgomery (2009) views ethnicity to have an impact on the way children experience their childhood based on their particular cultures and cultural backgrounds.

For example in measuring the goals of development of a young adult in the westernized world aspects such as career choices, career progression, marriage or the acquisition of a car or house are seen to be indicators that the young person is developing socially and intellectually.

In the traditional world, the goals of development that are used include achieving tribal status, moving from one stage of childhood to another, the ability to perform elevated tasks within the community and the ability to influence tribal decisions according to the social development of the young adult (Lewis 2005).

The various cultural practices and ethnic communities that exist have different practices that are determine how the everyday growth of a child or young adult will be affected.

For example in the westernized world cultural practices that exist in western societies emphasize the importance of direct and verbal learning in infants while traditional societies that are not westernised place a lot of emphasis on nonverbal learning that is indirect and observational in nature.

In the westernised societies children are allowed to perform child rearing practices such as feeding, sleeping and moral reasoning without the help of parents or caregivers while in the traditional societies children are in constant physical contact with their parents and caregivers who perform child rearing activities for them (Ramsay 2009).

Ethnicity and culture impact on the eating habits of children and young adults as various communities have cultures and practices on what food is acceptable or unacceptable. For example ethnic communities such as the Hindus do not consume cow meat because they view cows as their gods while Muslims do not consume pork or other products from pigs because they view them to be dirty.

Ethnicity and cultural practices therefore play an important role in determining the diet of young children from such cultural communities by ensuring that the type of food that they eat is not in contradiction with the values and beliefs of that particular society (Ramsay 2009).

How children and young adults learn in educational institutions is also affected by their ethnic backgrounds and cultural values. Various ethnic communities require their children to go through special educational training that is mostly focused on the ethnic group and its cultures, practices and customs.

For example Muslim children require special educational classes that teach them of their religion and cultural background as well as their beliefs and values. Various educational institutions around the world incorporate Christian educational studies in their curriculums to meet the religious needs of children and young adults from various religious backgrounds (Every Child matters 2010).

Apart from child development and child rearing activities, ethnicity and culture impacts on how children and young adults cope with their daily lives.

A cross cultural investigation conducted by D’Anastasi and Frydenberg (2005) on adolescents from various cultural backgrounds (Americans, Australian, Germans, British, Finnish, Russian, African and Israeli adolescents) showed how these young adults coped with various situations in their lives based on their ethnic or cultural backgrounds.

The results of the investigation indicated that a lot of diversity existed when it came to coping experiences among the youth. The investigations showed that young people from different ethnic communities and cultural backgrounds drew upon their diverse cultural and ethnic beliefs when coming up with suitable coping strategies (Hussain et al 2002).

The concept of coping which deals with managing situations that might threaten or affect an individual has a sociocultural embedment within various societies around the world. Different ethnic groups and societies have various strategies that they use to cope with dangerous situations that might face them in their day to day lives.

For example westernised societies such as America, the UK, some parts of Asia and Europe involve the use of verbal communication and expression when they are faced with threatening or emotional situations that affect them negatively.

In most of the traditional societies that exist in Africa as well as indigenous communities that are found in Australia, Asia, America and Canada, coping strategies are usually devoid of any forms of verbal communication with non verbal communication being the main strategy that is used to cope with threatening situations within these communities.

These ethnic groups also involve the use of physical confrontation to cope with these situations or negative problems that might affect them. Such differences in coping affect how young children and adults will deal with threatening situations in their daily lives (Ahmad et al 2008).

Based on a study conducted in 1992 by Seiffge and Krenke (cited by D’Anastasi and Frydenberg 2005) on German, Israel and Finnish adolescents and their coping strategies, young people involved the use of active, internal and withdrawal coping strategies when they were faced with threatening situations.

Active and internal coping strategies were viewed to be the most common coping approaches that were used by the interviewed adolescents while withdrawal was the least commonly used approach to deal with coping experiences.

The results of the study showed that there was a universal capacity for young people within diverse ethnic communities and cultural groups to involve the use of functional internal and active coping more than withdrawal when it came to dealing with stressful situations in their lives (D’Anastasi and Frydenberg 2005).

The essay has dealt with the impact of culture and/or ethnicity on the daily lives of young adults and children. The essay has dealt with the general concept of culture and ethnicity and how these two concepts affect the development of children that exist within the diverse societies that are in existence within the world.

The research within the essay has shown that culture and ethnicity affects the development of children as a whole as it determines their social maturity within various social settings.

Ethnicity and culture affects important aspects of a child’s development such as learning, eating and their interaction with peers within the society as it determines which values and beliefs the young person will follow to successfully achieve social maturity within the social or ethnic group.

The general conclusion derived from the essay’s discussion is that ethnicity and culture have an impact on the daily lives of young children and adults.

Alder, B., Abraham, C.S., and Teijlingen, E., (2009) Psychology and sociology applied to medicine . London, UK: Elsevier Health Sciences.

Ahmad, S., Akbar, A., Akbar, H., Ayub, S., Batool, A., Hussain, B., Kiani, S., Mahmood, S., and Rauf R., (2008) East meets west: why do some South Asian young people feel they need to lead a double identity and how does cultural and religious issues affect them . Web.

Aggleton, P., Ball, A., and Mane, P.N., (2006) Sex, drugs and young people: international perspectives . New Jersey: Routledge.

Bolaffi, G., (2004) Dictionary of race, ethnicity and culture . London, UK; Sage Publications.

Corsaro, W.A., (2003) We’re friends, right? : inside kid’s culture . Washington, D.C.: Joseph Henry Press.

D’Anastasi, T., and Frydenberg, E., (2005) Ethnicity and coping: what young people do and what young people learn. Australian Journal of Guidance and Counselling , Vol.15, No.1, pp. 43-59.

Dindyal, S., and Dindyal, S., (2004) How personal factors including culture and ethnicity affect the choices and selection of food we make. The Internet Journal of Third World Medicine , Vol.1, No.2.

Every Child Matters (2010) Behaviour in schools . Web.

Hussain, Y., Ahman, W., and Atkin, K., (2002) South Asian disabled young people and their families . Bristol, UK: The Policy Press.

Lewis, V., (2005) The reality of research with children and young people . London, UK: Sage Publications.

Montgomery, H., and Kellet, M., (2009) Children and young people’s world: developing frameworks for integrated practice . London, UK: Sage Publication.

Montgomery, H., (2009) An introduction to childhood: anthropological perspectives on children’s lives . West Sussex, UK: John Wiley and Sons.

O’Neil, D., (2006) Ethnicity and race: overview . Web.

Raman, S., (2010) Culture, identity and wellbeing in children and young people . Sydney, Australia: Sydney South West Area Health Service.

Ramsay, H., (2009) The adolescent’s perspective of culture and ethnicity within the South African outcome based education system . Web.

Tudge, J., (2008) The everyday lives of young children: culture, class and child rearing in diverse societies . New York: Cambridge University Press.

UNICEF (2006) Convention on the rights of the child: protecting and realizing children’s rights . Web.

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Cultural Identity Essay: Writing Guidelines for an A+ Paper

• Icon Calendar 6 July 2024
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Writing a cultural identity essay is an exciting academic exercise that allows students to develop and utilize critical thinking, reflective, and analytical skills. Unlike a standard essay, this type of paper requires learners to use first-person language throughout. In essence, such a composition is about writers and what makes them identify with a particular societal orientation. Further on, they should choose a specific identity and focus on it throughout their texts. Moreover, authors should reflect and brainstorm, use the “show, not tell” method, utilize transitions to create a natural flow of ideas, and proofread their papers to eliminate mistakes and errors. Hence, students need to learn how to write a cultural identity essay correctly to provide high-quality papers to their readers.

General Aspects

Students undertake different writing exercises in their learning environments to develop their critical thinking, reflective, and analytical skills. Basically, one of these exercises is academic writing, and among different types of essays that students write is a cultural identity paper. In this case, it is a type of essay where authors write about their culture, which entails exploring and explaining a real significance of their ethnic roots. Moreover, there are numerous topics that instructors may require students to write about in such documents. In principle, some assignment prompts fall under different disciplines, such as religion, socio-economic status, family, education, ethnicity, and business. Besides, the main defining features of such a composition are what aspects make authors know that they are writing in this type of essay. In turn, these features include language, nationality, gender, history, upbringing, and religion, among many others.

What Is a Cultural Identity Essay and Its Purpose

According to its definition, a cultural identity essay is a reflective and analytical piece of writing that explores an individual’s unique ethnic background, experiences, and influences. The main purpose of writing a cultural identity essay is to explore and articulate various elements of culture that constitute one’s life, such as ethnicity, traditions, language, customs, and values (Greetham, 2023). Through this paper, writers engage in self-examination, present their ethnic narrative, and offer more insights into a uniqueness and complexity of their experiences. Moreover, such a composition promotes self-awareness and allows individuals to acknowledge and appreciate their roots while also recognizing a unique diversity of experiences within their social group. By sharing these experiences and reflections, both a particular writer and his or her readers to recognize various complexities and richness of ethnic identities, highlighting a real importance of cultural heritage in shaping who they are (Wallace, 2021). In terms of pages and words, the length of a cultural identity essay depends on academic levels, specific assignment requirements, academic standards, and a depth of analysis, while general guidelines are:

High School

• Length: 1-2 pages
• Word Count: 250-500 words

College (Undergraduate)

• Length: 3-5 pages
• Word Count: 750-1,250 words

University (Bachelor)

• Length: 5-7 pages
• Word Count: 1,250-1,750 words

Master’s

• Length: 8-12 pages
• Word Count: 2,000-3,000 words
• Length: 12-20+ pages
• Word Count: 3,000-5,000+ words

Note: Some sections of a cultural identity essay can be added, deleted, or combined with each other. In writing, people explain their cultural identity by describing a unique mix of traditions, values, language, and personal experiences that have shaped their beliefs and sense of self.

Generally, a cultural identity essay is similar to a standard academic paper regarding its structure and outline. However, a central point of difference is a specific topic to write about. In this case, a cultural identity essay is a reflective exploration of how people’s ethnicities, family traditions, languages, and personal experiences have shaped their beliefs, values, and sense of self (Spelic, 2019). While standard academic papers, such as argumentative, persuasive, and informative essays, require learners to use third-person language, such a composition requires them to use first-person language. As such, authors should use the word “I” throughout to show a target audience that they are writing from their perspective. Indeed, this aspect is a primary objective of such an essay – to give a writer’s perspective concerning his or her culture (Davies et al., 2019). Besides, another point of difference between such an essay and other papers is that the former does not require writers to utilize external sources but to write from a personal viewpoint.

Examples of Cultural Identity Prompts

Cultural Orientation and Socialization in a Learning Environment

Here, this prompt may require students to discuss an actual significance of culture in education, focusing on ethnic heritage and socialization. As such, this topic requires writers to reflect on how culture influences behavior in a learning environment.

The Impact of Culture Change on Family

Here, a writing assignment may require students to explore and discuss how culture impacts a family unit. Moreover, a central theme is a family, and a student’s mission would be to explain how culture in all its dynamics affects families in diverse settings.

The Role of Language in Building an Ethnic Identity

Here, instructions may require students to explore and explain a particular significance of language in ethnic heritage. Hence, writers should focus on explaining a specific place of culture in a sociology discipline, focusing on a direct connection between language and cultural orientation.

The Significance of Culture in a Globalized Economy

Here, such a prompt may require students to explore and discuss how culture affects individuals and businesses in today’s connected world. Besides, a student’s task would be to explain how culture, in all its dynamics, such as language, is essential in business for individuals and enterprises.

How Culture Influences Relations in the Workplace

Here, an essay prompt may require students to explore and explain how culture, in all its dynamics, affects or influences social relations at the workplace. In turn, a particular task of writers, for example, would be to focus on how human resource (HR) departments can use culture to enrich workplace relations.

The Place of Culture in Individuals’ Self-Concept

Here, an analysis of a theme may require students to reflect on how their ethnic orientation has affected their self-concept. Moreover, a student’s task would be to discuss how culture and its dynamics enable individuals to build a strong or weak understanding of themselves.

The Importance of Cultural Orientation in a Multicultural Environment

Here, assignment writing instructions may require students to explore and discuss how their ethnic orientation enables them to operate in a culturally diverse environment, such as a school or workplace. In this case, a student’s task would be to explain how identity characteristics, such as language and religion, facilitate or hamper social competency in a multicultural setting. 

How Global Conflicts Disturb Ethnic Identity for Refugees

Here, this prompt example may require students to explore and explain how conflicts in today’s world, such as civil unrest, affect a unique identity heritage of those who flee to foreign countries. As such, a student’s task would be to explain how one’s culture is affected in a new environment with totally different social dynamics.

The Challenges of Acculturation

Here, this kind of prompt may require students to explore and explain possible challenges that individuals face in identifying with a dominant culture. In particular, a student’s task would be to explain a specific significance of a dominant culture and what those from other cultures that try to identify with it must confront.

Host Country Culture and Multinational Enterprises

Here, this essay prompt sample may require students to explore and explain how a host country’s culture affects expatriates working for multinational corporations. Besides, a student’s task would be to show how one’s culture defines their behaviors and how that can be affected in a new environment with new social characteristics.

Compare and Contrast Native Culture and Dominant Culture in the United States

Here, such instructions require students to explain specific areas of similarity and difference between a Native culture and a dominant culture. In turn, a student’s task would be to define both a Native culture and a dominant culture and help a target audience to understand whether they mean the same thing. Hence, whether they do or do not, students should elaborate.

The Objective of Acculturation

Here, this prompt example requires students to explore and explain why people prefer to identify with a dominant culture. Moreover, a student’s task would be to note some advantages of a dominant culture over others and possible opportunities that one may access to identify with this dominant culture.

The Challenges That the LGBTQ Community Faces in the Modern World

Here, essay prompt instructions require students to explore and discuss potential challenges that lesbians, gays, bisexuals, and transgender people face in their normal day-to-day activities. In this case, a student’s task would be to explain an uniqueness of a LGBTQ community and how stereotyping makes their lives miserable in an environment where people are intolerant of different personalities and viewpoints.

Dangers of Cultural Intolerance in the Health Care System

Here, assignment instructions may require students to explore and discuss how nurses who are intolerant of social differences may jeopardize patients’ lives.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Acculturation

Here, such a prompt requires students to discuss some pros and cons of identifying with a dominant culture.

How to Know

Key defining features of a cultural identity essay give students a particular indication that they need to write this kind of paper. For example, cultural identity is important because it shapes people’s traditions, customs, languages, family practices, historical backgrounds, values, beliefs, personal experiences, and sense of belonging, fostering self-awareness and promoting a deeper understanding and appreciation of lifestyle diversity (Heersmink, 2021). Hence, when students read instructions regarding their essay topics they need to write about, they should identify one or several defining elements. In turn, these elements include language, nationality, religion, ethnicity, and gender.

Steps on How to Write a Cultural Identity Essay

To write a cultural identity essay, people reflect on and describe some significant aspects of their ethnic backgrounds, such as traditions, language, and experiences, and analyze how they have influenced their worldview. In turn, common steps for writing a good cultural identity essay are:

• Understand an Assignment: Read and comprehend an essay’s prompt to ensure you meet all requirements.
• Choose a Focus: Select specific aspects of your ethnic heritage to highlight in your essay.
• Conduct Research: Gather information about your ancestral background and its historical context.
• Brainstorm and Outline: Reflect on your cultural experiences and organize your thoughts into an outline.
• Write a Strong Introduction:   Write an engaging opening with a hook, background information, and a thesis statement.
• Develop Body Paragraphs: Discuss each aspect of your ethnic heritage with personal examples and reflections.
• Incorporate Cultural Influences: Explore an actual role of family, community, and society in shaping your social orientation.
• Address Challenges and Pride: Highlight any challenges faced and express pride in your actual roots.
• Write a Logical Conclusion: Summarize key points, restate a central thesis, and offer final thoughts on identity heritage.
• Revise and Edit: Review for coherence, clarity, and errors, and make revisions based on feedback.

As stated previously, a primary point of similarity between a cultural identity essay and standard papers is its writing structure and outline. In this case, to start a cultural identity essay, people begin with an engaging hook, provide background context on their ethnic heritage, and present a clear thesis statement that outlines main aspects of their roots they will explore further (Spelic, 2019). Basically, this structure and outline comprise three main sections: introduction, body, and conclusion. Like in all other papers, writing such a composition requires students to address specific issues, which are, in essence, a defining characteristics of an essay’s structure and outline. In turn, some examples of sentence starters for beginning a cultural identity essay include:

• Growing up in a household where [specific cultural practices] were a daily routine, my ethnic heritage was shaped by specific traditions and values of my [ethnicity/nationality] heritage.
• A rich picture of my lifestyle is woven from diverse threads of my family’s history, which includes [briefly mention key ethnic elements].
• From a young age, I was impressed by unique customs of my [specific social group], where celebrations and rituals played a crucial role in shaping my sense of self.
• My journey to understanding my cultural roots began with shared stories that my grandparents told me about their experiences in [country/region], which instilled in me a deep appreciation for our heritage.
• A direct connection between [ethnicity] and [ethnicity] cultures in my upbringing provided me with a unique perspective on life and allowed me to embrace my complex heritage.
• Living in a multicultural community, I was constantly surrounded by different traditions and practices, which enriched my understanding of my own ethnic identity.
• Reflecting on my childhood, I realized that cultural festivals and family gatherings we celebrated were essential in fostering a strong connection to my [specific culture] roots.
• A particular influence of my ancestral background on my personal values and beliefs is profound, as it has shaped my worldview and interactions with others in significant ways.
• As a child of immigrants, my life was shaped by blending my parents’ homeland traditions with new cultural norms of our adopted country.
• Understanding and embracing my ethnic roots has been a continuous journey, marked by moments of both pride and challenge, as I strive to honor my heritage while finding my place in a current world.

Introduction and Its Defining Characteristics

An introduction is the first paragraph of a cultural identity essay. Here, students introduce themselves to a target audience, giving a brief background of their ethnic heritage. Moreover, rules of academic writing dictate that this part should not exceed 10 percent of a whole word count of an entire paper (Greetham, 2023). In this case, writers should be brief and concise. Then, the most prominent component of this section is a thesis, a statement that appears at the end of an introduction paragraph and whose objective is to indicate a writer’s mission. In summary, the introduction part’s defining features are a writer’s background and thesis statement. In turn, the former gives a hint about a writer, and the latter provides a target audience with insight into a author’s objective in writing a cultural identity essay.

Body Paragraphs

A body element of a cultural identity essay is the most significant section of a paper and takes the largest part. Generally, writers use several paragraphs to advance different arguments on their ethnic heritage to explain specific concepts (Karjalainen, 2020). In writing a cultural identity essay, authors can use different paragraphs to explain important aspects of their ethnic heritage. Nonetheless, what determines the number of paragraphs and the content of each is a paper topic (Greetham, 2023). Besides, the most prominent defining features of a essay’s body are paragraphs, with each advancing a unique concept about a writer’s ethnic heritage. In turn, paragraphs are where writers provide real-life experiences and other personal anecdotes or examples that help a target audience to develop a deeper understanding of authors from a cultural perspective.

A conclusion part is the last section of a cultural identity essay. In particular, writers restate a thesis statement and summarize main points from body paragraphs (Greetham, 2023). Moreover, authors provide concluding remarks about a topic, which is mostly an objective personal opinion. In summary, the conclusion part’s defining features are a restatement of a thesis, a summary of main points, and writer’s final thoughts about a topic.

Outline Template

I. Introduction

A. Hook statement/sentence. B. Background information. C. A thesis statement that covers main ideas from 1 to X in one sentence.

II. Body Paragraphs

A. Idea 1 B. Idea 2 … X. Idea X

III. Conclusion

A. Restating a thesis statement. B. Summary of the main points from A to X. C. Final thoughts.

An Example of a Cultural Identity Essay

Topic: Identifying as a Naturalist

Introduction Sample

The period of birth marks the beginning of one’s identity, with culture playing a significant role. However, from the stage of adolescence going forward, individuals begin to recognize and understand their cultural makeup. In my case, I have come to discover my love for nature, an aspect that I believe has made me a naturalist both in belief and action.

Examples of Body Paragraphs

Idea 1: Parents

Parents play a critical role in shaping a cultural and personal identity of their children. In my case, it is my mother who has instilled in me a love for nature. Although I may not say exactly when this love started, I can only reason that since it was ingrained in me since childhood, it has developed gradually.

Idea 2: Naturalism

Today, naturalism defines my interactions with people and the environment. In short, I can say it shapes my worldview. As a lover of nature herself, my mother had this habit of taking me outdoors when I was a toddler. I have seen family photographs of my mother walking through parks and forests holding my hand. What is noticeable in these pictures besides my mother and me is the tree cover that gives the setting such a lovely sight. Moreover, I can now understand why I seem more conversant with the names and species of flowers, trees, and birds than my siblings- my mother was the influence. In turn, my siblings and friends make a joke that I have developed a strong love for nature to the point of identifying myself with the environment. Hence, the basis for this argument is my love for the green color, where even my clothes and toys are mostly green.

Conclusion Sample

Naturally, human beings behave in line with their cultural background and orientation. Basically, this behavior is what determines or reflects their ethnic identity. In turn, my intense love for nature underscores my naturalist identity. While I may not tell the stage in life when I assumed this identity, I know my mother has played a significant role in shaping it, and this is since childhood.

What to Include

Common mistakes.

• Lack of Focus: Failing to narrow down an essay to specific aspects of cultural identity, leading to an unclear narrative.
• Vague Thesis Statement: Providing a weak or unclear thesis statement, which makes it difficult for readers to understand an essay’s main argument.
• Insufficient Personal Reflection: Neglecting to include personal examples and reflections, which are crucial for illustrating an actual impact of ethnic heritage.
• Overgeneralization: Making broad and unsupported statements about specific groups rather than focusing on personal and specific experiences.
• Ignoring Historical Context: Failing to provide historical or ethnic background that can help readers to understand a real significance of certain traditions or practices.
• Poor Organization: Structuring an essay poorly, resulting in an illogical and difficult-to-follow narrative.
• Lack of Depth: Addressing ethnic heritage without explaining how it shapes beliefs, values, and behaviors.
• Cultural Stereotyping: Relying on stereotypes or clichés rather than presenting a personal perspective on ethnic roots.
• Inadequate Conclusion: Providing a weak conclusion that does not effectively summarize main points or reflect on a real significance of a particular ethnic heritage.
• Ignoring Feedback and Revision: Failing to seek feedback from others or revise a cultural identity essay, which can leave writing errors and unclear sections unaddressed.

Like any standard paper, writing a cultural identity essay allows students to build essential skills, such as critical thinking, reflective, and analytical skills. In this case, a real essence of such a paper is to provide a writer’s cultural identity, background, or orientation. As such, in order to learn how to write a good cultural identity essay, students should master following tips:

• Decide where to focus. Culture is a broad topic, and deciding what to focus on is essential in producing such an essay. Basically, one may have several ethnic identities, and addressing all may lead to inconclusive explanations.
• Reflect and brainstorm. Given a close link between one’s cultural orientation and personal experiences, learners need to reflect on experiences that would provide a target audience with an accurate picture of their ethnic heritage.
• Adopt a “Show, not tell” approach by providing vivid details about one’s experiences. Using personal anecdotes may be effective in accomplishing this objective.
• Use transitions , such as “therefore,” “thus,” ” additionally,” and “furthermore,” to enhance a natural and logical flow throughout an essay.
• Stay personal by using first-person language to describe one’s background and experiences.
• Proofread a final document to eliminate spelling and grammatical mistakes and other notable errors, such as an inconsistent life storyline.

Davies, S. R., Halpern, M., Horst, M., Kirby, D., & Lewenstein, B. (2019). Science stories as culture: Experience, identity, narrative and emotion in public communication of science. Journal of Science Communication , 18 (05), 1–17. https://doi.org/10.22323/2.18050201

Greetham, B. (2023). How to write better essays . Bloomsbury Academic.

Heersmink, R. (2021). Materialised identities: Cultural identity, collective memory, and artifacts. Review of Philosophy and Psychology , 14 (1), 249–265. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13164-021-00570-5

Karjalainen, H. (2020). Cultural identity and its impact on today’s multicultural organizations. International Journal of Cross Cultural Management , 20 (2), 249–262. https://doi.org/10.1177/1470595820944207

Spelic, S. (2019). Care at the core conversational essays on identity, education and power . Tredition.

Wallace, K. (2021). Network self: Relation, process, and personal identity . Routlage.

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Essay Samples on Race and Ethnicity

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