During their teen years, young people typically begin to explore and understand their place in the world. They work to answer the questions “who am I?” and “who am I in this setting?” (Erikson, 1959). How someone responds to these questions helps define their identity – their sense of self, including their personal beliefs, goals, values, and commitments (Côté, 2009). People’s identities are reflected in and affected by the choices they make (e.g., what activities to do) as well as by the people, places, and events around them. Choose a character from We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves and discuss how he or she goes through the process of identity development. First, identify which character you chose and why you chose him or her. Then, please answer the following questions about that character. How would that character answer the question “Who am I?” Does his or her answer change depending on the setting? If so, how? If not, why not? What choices does he or she make that reflect his or her identity? How do those choices affect who he or she becomes? What people, places, or events may have influenced his or her identity? What choices did the main character make that altered the course of the story, and would you have made the same ones? Choose rosemary cooke.
