Causal Information as Reward for Children

Causal Information as Reward for Children Loredana Lenghel Life-span Developmental Psychology 1. Details of the applicant: Loredana Lenghel 2. Title of the proposal: Keeping Children Engaged – Causal Information as Reward 3. Summary of the proposed research This study proposes research on the effects of causal information as reward on the intrinsic motivation of children. Causal information has been shown to maintain task engagement in children better than tangible rewards because it touches children’s innate interest in the world. A repeated measures experimental design with children aged 8 to 10 will be used to establish if indeed the intrinsic motivation of children is not undermined by causal information as reward. The results have implications in areas such as education and learning. 4. Keywords Intrinsic motivation, causal information, reward, education 5a. Research topic Motivation to fulfill personal needs is what drives people to act. Being defined as â€Å"the reasons underlying behavior† (Guay et al., 2010, p. 712), it is understandable why it is important to establish the building blocks of motivation and how these can be manipulated in order to preserve people’s sense of fulfillment. Motivation has been a topic widely investigated within the social sciences, there being several theories that attempt to explain this process. The most common distinction encountered in the literature is between intrinsic and extrinsic motivation (Ryan Deci, 2000). Intrinsic motivation is seen as inherently volitional; it is the force that drives actions and sustains activities due to personal desires as it is associated to personal enjoyment, interest, pleasure or high engagement. In contrast, extrinsic motivation is seen as governed by reinforcement factors; this type of motivation implies doing activities due to reasons that are external to the ta sk, such as receiving a reward (Lai, 2011). The differences between these types of motivations can be associated with the quality of task outcomes. For instance, task outcomes such as spelling, writing or vocabulary development represent only a narrow range in which the relevance of these motivation forms can be observed. Thus, an important area where intrinsic versus extrinsic motivation needs to be taken into account is education and learning. The relevance and importance of this proposed study can be understood when looking at how children’s motivation develops. Research on children’s intrinsic motivation shows that it is not a stable construct. Intrinsic motivation tends to decrease with age, ninth graders exhibiting less motivation than third graders (Lepper, Sethi, Dialdin, Drake, 1997) (Lai, 2011). However, some evidence shows that after the age of 15, there is again an increase in this type of motivation (Gillet, Vallerand, Lafreniere, 2012). One study argues that academic intrinsic motivation stabilize s as one advances in age. They found that between the ages of 9 and 17, motivation can be seen as having cumulative effects. Information about motivation at one age can be used to predict further motivation. Moreover, they argued that academic motivation is relevant for the school curriculum, showing a decline for sciences and reading. Another point touched upon was that children with low motivation at the beginning of schooling are at risk and lack future interest in learning (Gottfried, Fleming, Gottfried, 2001). What is more, studies suggest that before starting school, children are generally intrinsically motivated, eager and excited about learning. This effect then diminishes and some children show reluctance towards studying. This is why having an efficient method to nurture children’s motivation can have a positive effect on their future motivation. It also shows that a method is necessary to help maintain academic interest in subjects for which children’s intr insic motivation to learn declines. Notwithstanding these findings, society has taken a problematic approach to maintaining children’s motivation. Several studies have shown that rewarding someone for doing a certain task can diminish their intrinsic motivation. (Lai, 2011) (Hagger Chatzisarantis, 2011) (Lepper, Sethi, Dialdin, Drake, 1997). Deci et al. (2001) have investigated the effect of different kinds of rewards on the motivation of children. They argue that rewards are composed of two aspects: the informational and the controlling aspects. The informational aspect of a reward conveys self-determined competence and can enhance intrinsic motivation whereas the controlling aspect is what determines the external perception of locus of control and can decrease intrinsic motivation. The authors looked at verbal and tangible rewards to establish which one is more likely to be seen as informational or controlling. Their results showed that tangible, task-contingent rewards undermined the intrinsic motivation of children. Verbal rewards, on the other hand, increased intrinsic motivation and were more likely to be seen as informational. Another important result of this study showed that whereas verbal rewards are beneficial for college students, they have a lower effect on children. However, the undermining of intrinsic motivation by tangible rewards was more accentuated in children than in students. This shows that children are more sensitive to extrinsic rewards and that measures to resolve the issue of intrinsic motivation decrease caused by extrinsic rewards need to be taken. Children’s inherent curiosity and interest in the surrounding world also plays a role in the development of motivation. Constructivist theorists argued that children are â€Å"active builders of knowledge – little scientists who are constantly creating and testing their own theories of the world† (Ravitch, 2001, p.442). In their study, Deci et al. (2001) also investigated children’s interest and discovered that offering verbal rewards results in enhanced self-reports of interest, whereas all tangible rewards resulted in lower interest. Chen and Xiang (2005) studied the interaction effect between intrinsic motivators and extrinsic rewards on behaviors. They argued that interest is a construct embedded in intrinsic motivation and that it is the most important predictor of future motivation for engaging in an activity. Their study showed that activities based on interest could have a stronger and prolonged effect in a learning situation. Embedded in this idea , studies have tried to investigate whether children’s curiosity could be utilized as a way to reinforce their learning. It has been showed that children understand and are interested in causal information and derive satisfaction from answering with causal factors (Lai, 2011). A recent study (Alvarez Booth, 2014) utilized children’s interest in the world to establish whether it can be used as reward for task engagement. They used causal information to reward children for engaging in a boring activity and discovered that youngsters showed more engagement when presented with strong causal information than when rewarded with something tangible. This body of literature offers the foundations for the investigation of the effect of causal information as reward on intrinsic motivation, which is the aim of the current study. Causal information as reward is fundamentally an extrinsic factor that can be used to motivate children; however, because it touches upon children’s inherent curiosity and can be seen as having an informational aspect, its effect should not be as detrimental. If this type of information increases task persistence, children’s engagement could increase as well, promoting better learning. Thus, the key objective of this study is to establish whether causal information as reward undermines intrinsic motivation in children between the ages of 8 and 10. It is hypothesized that children who will be rewarded with causal information will not show a decrease in their intrinsic motivation, as opposed to the children who will receive tangible rewards. The innovative aspect of the study is to be found in the manner it uses previous research which found that causal information engages children just as much as tangible rewards and tries to determine its effect on intrinsic motivation. There is no prior research that has taken this approach, making it the first study that might offer some insight into this issue. This insight could bring about numerous implications for children’s education and learning. Moreover, further research in this area could investigate the method in which the presentation of causally rich information could increase learning. One mechanism that we propose to play a role in this process is that of attention. Catching children’s attention with causal information that appeals to their interest can result in more task engagement and thus an increase in their learning process. 5b. Approach In order to establish the effect of causal information as reward on the intrinsic motivation of children, a repeated measures experimental design will be used. Based on the discussed literature, it is hypothesized that offering children causal information as reward will not undermine their intrinsic motivation. The experiment will consist of 120 children aged 8 to 10 doing a boring, repetitive task. Local schools will be contacted in order to gather the necessary participants. The age range was chosen because it represents the ages at which children in most countries are already in school[1] and poses some basic educational knowledge, such as counting or writing. Moreover, the previously mentioned studies showed that the intrinsic motivation of children tends to decrease with the advancement in age (Lepper, Sethi, Dialdin, Drake, 1997) (Lai, 2011). A boring, repetitive task of moderate difficulty is likely to keep children somewhat engaged while not making them abandon the task due to its difficulty. The task will be divided into trials and will consist of children counting how many animals of a certain type appear on a screen. After each trial, they will be rewarded according to the group they are in. Each child is required to do 10 trials. To compare the intrinsic motivation of children, three different groups will be made; each group having a minimum of 40 participants. The first group will receive as reward causal information about the animal they were required to count. The second group of children will receive a tangible reward in order to determine whether there is a significant difference between tangible and causal information as rewards. A third group will be the control group, not receiving anything for doing the tasks; thus being used as a base category to which the other two will be compared. Therefore, the type of reward will constitute the independent variable (IV) of the study. The three different groups will represent the three levels of the ID. In order to establish the intrinsic motivation of children, measurement of it will be done before and after the tasks. Intrinsic motivation will be measured by offering them the chance to do the task before and after the study. In the before and after measurements of intrinsic motivation, the â€Å"free choice† (Thakor, 1994) measure combined with a self-report questionnaire will be used. The children will be told they can do the task for as long as they want, without receiving any rewards. The time spent on the task will be indicative of their intrinsic motivation because it is assumed that their engagement with the task comes from personal interest, as no other reinforcements are offered. If there is no difference in the group receiving causal information as reward in the before and after measurement of intrinsic motivation, it would show that this type of reward has no effect on the intrinsic motivation of children. A self-report questionnaire will be used alongside the â€Å"free choice† method to strengthen the measurements. The questionnaire will consist of items which measure interest, enjoyment and attention paid to the task. The answer categories will be based on an enjoyment scale that will show smileys depicting faces from sad to happy and organized on a 5-point Likert scale. This method intends to make the self-report of children more suitable for their understanding. The measurement of intrinsic motivation will constitute the dependent variable of the study. The innovative aspect of this methodology can be seen in the combination of self-report questionnaires and the previously used method of measuring intrinsic motivation, namely the â€Å"free choice† method. Moreover, the self-report method has been designed with the intention to facilitate children’s’ understanding of the answers they choose. One valuable addition to this method needs to be mentioned. When assessing the intrinsic motivation of children, problems with the accuracy of responses might be encountered even though measures to control for this issue have been taken. It is not guaranteed that children are able to provide unbiased assessments of their interests or motives. However, a more clear image of the results will be gather in this way rather than utilizing only the â€Å"free choice† method, as done in previous research. 5c. Word count (sections 5a-5b) 5d. Time plan The timetable proposed for this research project is divided according to the tasks needed to be accomplished. First, two weeks are dedicated to the writing of the introduction and determining an exact research design. Next, one month is needed to conduct the experiment, which entails finding enough participants and the actual experimental sessions. Another month would be required for the coding, analysis and reporting of data. A final week would be dedicated to finalize the research report. Thus, the total time required to for this research amounts to two months and three weeks. 5f. Social significance (max. 200 words) It is often said that children are the future of society. They are the ones that will take oven when the current generations fade away. It is important, thus, to provide them with all the resources and quality care available. Motivation plays an important role in the shaping of individuals and as it has been shows, motivation is not a fixed concept. Discovering methods in which we can shape the motivation of children in such way that they maintain their innate excitement and curiosity towards learning and knowledge has major implications for their development. A generation of people who retained an intrinsic motivation as the one of children can give rise to a great number or innovations and societal improvement, bringing about higher life satisfaction (Martin-Albo, Nunez, Domingues, 2012). 5g. Literature references Works Cited Alvarez, A., Booth, A. (2014). Motivated by Meaning: Testing the effect of Knowledge-Infused Rewards on Preschoolers Persistence. Child Development, 783-791. Deci, E., Koestner, R., Ryan, R. (2001). Extrinsic Rewards and Intrinsic Motivation in Education: Reconsidered Once Again. Review of Educational Research, 1-27. Gillet, N., Vallerand, R., Lafreniere, M.-A. (2012). Intrinsic and Extrinsic School Motivation as a Function of Age: The Mediating Role of Autonomy Support. Soc Psychological Education, 77-95. Gottfried, A., Fleming, J., Gottfried, A. (2001). Continuity of Academic Intrinsic Motivation From Childhood Through Late Adolescence: A Longitudinal Study. Journal Of Educational Psychology, 3-13. Guay, F., Ratelle, C. F., Marsh, H. W., Larose, S., Boivin, M. (2010). Intrinsic, identifie, and controlled types of motivation for school subjects in young elementary school children. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 711-735. Hagger, M., Chatzisarantis, N. (2011). Causality orientations moderate the undermining effect of rewards on intrinsic motivation. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 485-489. Lai, E. (2011). Motivation: A Literature Review. Pearson. Lepper, M., Sethi, S., Dialdin, D., Drake, M. (1997). Intrinsic and extrinsic motivation: A developmental perspecive. In S. Iyengar, Developmental Psychopathology: Perspectives on Adjustment, Risk, and Disorder (pp. 23-50). New York: Cambridge University Press. Martin-Albo, J., Nunez, J., Domingues, E. (2012). Relationship between intrinsic motivation, self-concept and satisfaction with life: A longitudinal study. Journal of Sports Sciences, 337-347. Thakor, M. (1994). Innate: Development of a New Intrinsic Motivation Measure Using Confirmatory Factor Analytic Methods. Asia Pacific Advances in Consumer Research, 116-121. Xiang, P., Chen, A., Bruene, A. (2005). Interactive impact of intrinsic motivators and extrinsic rewards on behavior and motivation outcomes. Journal of teaching in physical education, 179-197. [1] http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SE.PRM.AGES

How the Medical Model of Psychopathology

TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION DEFINITION OF SCHIZOPHRENIA THE MEDICAL MODEL * POSSIBLE MEDICAL CAUSES FOR SCHIZOPHRENIA * SYMPTOMS OF SCHIZOPHRENIA * DISCUSSION OF THE DSM-IV-TR THE FAMILY SYSTEMS PERSPECTIVE CONCLUSION INTRODUCTION In this assignment I will show how the medical model of Psychopathology and the family systems model reflect linear and circular causality respectively by referring to the causes of Schizophrenia. SCHIZOPHRENIA Schizophrenia is characterised by a broad spectrum of cognitive and emotional dysfunctions that include delusions and hallucinations, disorganized speech and behaviour and inappropriate emotions.It disrupts social, occupational and recreational functioning and almost every other aspect of daily functioning. It is usually chronic with a high relapse rate and recovery from Schizophrenia is rare. MEDICAL MODEL The DSM-IV-TR is based on the medical model. The basic assumption is that psychological disorders are diseases and are treated as such. In his definition of the medical model, Blaney (1975) stated that mental disorders are in fact organic diseases. He further explained that the visible evidences of disorders are merely manifestations of an underlying condition.According to him, the individual has no responsibility for his/her behaviour. The medical/biological model reflects a linear view of the causes of Psychopathology. Linear causality means that a particular cause (or more than one cause in combination) leads to a specific effect (e. g. a virus causes an illness). Thus, from this perspective, event A causes event B (A -> B) in a linear (unidirectional) fashion. In this linear way of thinking, our reality is considered to be separate from us. We are thus seen as reacting to our reality rather than creating it (Becvar, 2003). Possible medical causes for Schizophrenia: Genetic influences – Inherited tendency (multiple genes) are responsible for making some individuals vulnerable to Schizophrenia * Neurotransmitter imbalances – This refers to brain chemistry such as abnormalities in the dopamine and glutamate systems * Developmental disruptions such as prenatal / birth complications – A viral infection during pregnancy or a birth injury can affect a child’s brain cells. * Brain structure – Research by Eve Johnstone (Johnstone et al, 1976) showed, by using computed tomography (CT), that there is an enlargement of the lateral ventricles in some patients with chronic Schizophrenia. Psychological stressors have also been named as a possible medical cause. Symptoms of Schizophrenia Positive symptoms: Delusions are false personal beliefs that are firmly and consistently held despite disconfirming evidence or logic, for instance: delusions of grandeur or persecution. Perceptual distortions (hallucinations) e. g. hearing voices, seeing people or objects and smelling peculiar odours. It is important to remember when diagnosing a patient that hallucinations aren’t path ognomonic. Disorganized thought and speech as a symptom comes through when communicating with the Schizophrenic person.The individual may jump from topic to topic, talk illogically or reply tangentially to questions. Disorganized motor disturbances such as extreme activity levels, strange gestures and grimaces, catatonic immobility, waxy flexibility and peculiar body movements and posture. More examples of behavioural problems are bad personal hygiene, inappropriate dress and affect. Negative symptoms would be to not show emotional expression (flat affect), avolition (an inability to become goal-orientated or to take action) and alogia (a lack of meaningful speech).DSM-IV-TR DSM-IV-TR recommends that clinicians examine and evaluate the individual’s mental state with regard to five factors (axes). Axes I, II and III addresses the individual’s present mental and medical condition. Axes IV and V provide additional information about the person’s life situation and f unctioning. The DSM-IV-TR is based on a prototypical approach. Axis I – Clinical syndromes and other conditions that may be a focus of clinical attention Axis II – Personality disorders and Mental retardation Axis III – General Medical conditionsAxis IV – Psychosocial and Environmental problems Axis V – Global Assessment of Functioning When using the medical model, the focus is always on the individual. If an individual has a possible psychological disorder, they need to be assessed clinically. This is done by systematically evaluating and measuring the individual’s psychological, biological and social factors. This can be done by interviewing the individual and taking an informal mental status exam of the ‘patient’. This can be followed by psychological tests, personality inventories and neuropsychological testing.Before a diagnosis can be made and before one can classify anything on Axis I, it is imperative to determine that t he above factors (psychological, biological and social factors) meet all the criteria for a specific psychological disorder. The DSM-IV-TR distinguishes 5 types of Schizophrenia – paranoid, disorganised, catatonic, undifferentiated and residual Schizophrenia. The DSM-IV-TR criteria for Schizophrenia needs to be met before one can diagnose an individual as Schizophrenic on Axis I. Taken from Sue et al (2006) the DSM-IV-TR criteria for Schizophrenia are as follows: A.At least two of the following symptoms lasting for at least one month in the active phase: delusions; hallucinations; disorganized speech; grossly disorganized or catatonic behaviour; negative symptoms (exception: only one symptom if it involves bizarre delusions or if hallucinations involve a running commentary on the person or two or more voices talking with each other). B. During the course of the disturbance, functioning in one or more areas such as work, social relations and self-care has deteriorated markedly from premorbid levels. C. Signs of the disorder must be present for at least 6 months. D.Schizoaffective and mood disorders with psychotic features must be ruled out. E. The disturbance is not substance-induced or caused by organic factors. The medical model subscribes to linear causality. It is thus based on a cause-effect relationship as mentioned previously. Schizophrenia as a disorder can be used to illustrate linear causality within the medical model. One or more of the causes of Schizophrenia (i. e. genes) causes the individual to become schizophrenic (cause) and then the individual is diagnosed as Schizophrenic because he/she displays certain symptoms (effect) such as hallucinations, voices talking etc.Thus, cause-effect (A causes B) = linear causality. Let’s say our ‘patient’ meets the DSM-IV-TR criteria to be classified on Axis I as Schizophrenic. As a Schizophrenic, the individual will probably show certain behaviour such as difficulty in maintaining s ocial relationships which could lead to social isolation, experiencing problems with his/her primary support group, education, occupation, housing, health care and economic problems. These problems will be indicated on Axis IV of the DSM-IV-TR as they are psychosocial and environmental problems.These problems will most probably affect the individual’s psychological, social and occupational functioning. The patient will be given a rating for the level of functioning at the time of the evaluation. This rating is displayed on Axis V of the DSM-IV-TR – the Global Assessment of Functioning which is used to report the clinician’s judgement of the individual’s overall level of functioning and carrying out activities of daily living. This information is useful in planning treatment and measuring its impact, and in predicting outcome.A 100-point scale is used for the rating in which 1 indicates severe impairment in functioning and 100 indicates superior functionin g with no symptoms. FAMILY SYSTEMS PERSPECTIVE The family systems model is based on cybernetics (circular thinking). Circular causality places emphasis on reciprocity, recursion and shared responsibility. A and B exist in the context of a relationship in which each influences the other and both are equally cause and effect of each others’ behaviour (Becvar et al, 2003).Thus, circular causality means that two or more elements reciprocally cause each other (A causes B and B causes A). So where the medical model makes use of linear causality, the language of systems theory is based on the notion of circularity (A and B mutually influence each other). The contrast between linear and circular causality has to do with the direction of cause. Linear causality = A -> B. Circular causality = A B. Example of circular causality: A teenager (A) with Schizophrenia begins to withdraw socially as she has difficulty forming relationships.Her sister (B) starts mocking her because she has no f riends and isn’t popular. Because her sister (B) mocks her and breaks her self-confidence even more, the teenager (A) withdraws even more and becomes even more isolated (even within her own family system because her sister is ‘against’ her as well). A loop forms (circular causality) where A causes B and B causes A and so on. Thus, the one ‘feeds’ the other. There are a few systems concepts that are important to the systems theory. Boundaries are formed by a system’s rules and it is these rules that distinguish a system from other systems.These boundaries (rules) are invisible but do exist and are inferred from the repeated patterns of behaviour of a system, it is what makes each family unique. It delineates individuals and subsystems and also defines the amount and kind of contact allowable between members of a family. The ideal boundaries for a family to have are clear boundaries as they are firm yet flexible. Feedback occurs in systems theor y and also emphasis the circular causality in the theory. Feedback is the process whereby information about past behaviours is fed back into the system in a circular manner.There is positive and negative feedback, but it must be understood that both processes may refer to something that is good and/ or bad. Positive feedback acknowledges that a change has occurred and has been accepted by the system (error-activated process). Negative feedback indicates that the status quo is being maintained (stability). When working with a Schizophrenic patient, systems theorists see the Schizophrenia as symptomatic of family disturbance. Thus, the symptom of Schizophrenia is not abnormal in a dysfunctional context.Actually, the maintenance of a system is associated with complex reciprocal feedback mechanisms with and between systems (Becvar 2003). So, every symptom has a function in the system. In a Schizophrenic person’s family system, his Schizophrenia (the symptom) helps maintain the sy stem, as all the blame for the dysfunction of the family falls to the Schizophrenic family member. The other members do not look to their own dysfunctions and issues. It is clear then that the dysfunctional pattern the family is carrying out, is maintained by the Schizophrenic family member who is targeted as the only problem or reason for the problems in the system.This way of doing things gives the family a dysfunctional homeostasis, which refers to the tendency of the family to regulate its internal environment. CONCLUSION I believe that both the medical model and the family systems perspective can contribute towards an accurate and successful diagnosis and treatment process for the Schizophrenic individual. REFERENCES * Barlow, D. H. , & Durand, V. M. (2005). Abnormal Psychology: An integrated approach. (4th ed. ). Belmont: Wadsworth/Thomson Learning * Becvar, D. S. & Becvar, R. J. (2003). Family therapy: A systemic integration. (5th ed. ). Boston: Allyn & Bacon. * Blaney, P. H. (1975). Implications of the medical model and its alternatives. American Journal of Psychiatry, 132, p. 911-914. * Johnstone, E. C. , Crow, T. J. , Frith, C. D. , Hurhard, J. & Kreel, L. (1976). Cerebral ventricular size and cognitive impairment in schizophrenia. Lancet, ii, p. 924-926. * Sue, D. , Sue, D. , & Sue, S. (2006). Understanding abnormal behaviour. (8th ed. ). Boston: Houghton Mifflin.

Critique Sample Size and Personal Message - 2229 Words

Research Critique 1 Running head: RESEARCH CRITIQUE Research Critique of The Influence of Personal Message with Music on Anxiety and Side Effects Associated with Chemotherapy Jennifer Robey BSN Duke University N 307 Spring 2005 Research Critique 2 Research Critique of The Influence of Personal Message with Music on Anxiety and Side Effects Associated with Chemotherapy Introduction The introduction of this article does give you a sense of the importance of the problem area. The area being talked about in this article is how fear and anxiety can negatively impact a patient receiving chemotherapy. The authors then go on to say that relaxation techniques can be used to decrease a patient’s anxiety†¦show more content†¦The reference list itself was small and some of the articles were dated. This particular study was published in 1996 and three of the references used were from the years 1981 through 1983. Reference two on the list was not used in the literature search, even though the primary focus of this reference was in the critical care arena it would have been nice to see how those authors used the techniques. The dependent variables in this study are anxiety level and chemotherapy side effects. These variables are not explained in the literature search as to how they are defined. The independent variables are the use of music and a personalized message from the physician during chemotherapy. Like the dependent variables there is no explanation as to how these are defined. Research Critique 5 There is no clear hypothesis stated in the literature review section of the paper, however there are two hypotheses listed after the methodology section. It would have been easier to read about the hypotheses before the methods were given, so that the reader could understand why the methods were being done the w ay they were. The first hypothesis is: â€Å"The intervention of music and a message from the physician will strengthen the flexible lines of defense of a patient receiving chemotherapy, as evidenced by a decrease in anxiety over time.† (Sabo Michael, 1996) The secondShow MoreRelatedWhat Makes A Excellent Mental Health Nurse?1564 Words   |  7 Pagesassignment, these students have chosen the article, â€Å"What makes a excellent mental health nurse? A pragmatic inquiry initiated and conducted by people with lived experience of service use† (2013). For this written critique we have decided to use Polit and Beck’s (2010), ‘Guide to an overall critique of a qualitative research report’ that was presented within the resource, ‘Essentials of Nursing Research: Appraising Evidence for Nursing Practice’. 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Self Identity During The Harlem Renaissance - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 8 Words: 2276 Downloads: 1 Date added: 2019/05/23 Category Art Essay Level High school Topics: Renaissance Essay Did you like this example? In Claude McKayrs Home to Harlem, mainly set in Harlem the story of Jake Brown is told as he returns from France, after deserting the US Military to come back to America. In Wallace Thurmanrs The Blacker the Berry we follow Emma Lou Morgan as she faces colorism within her own community and her discovery of her self-identity. In their novels, McKay and Thurman both argue that the different experiences that you go through in life affect your self-identity and your individuality. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Self Identity During The Harlem Renaissance" essay for you Create order The experiences that their characters go through are what will change how they think of themselves. This teaches readers that they must discover their selves and when they can finally say that they know who exactly they are, others that they will encounter will be able to know who they are just from looking at them. Jake and Emma Lou learn to develop their own identity to help them finally be happy with themselves, and who they are. Jake struggles to develop his individuality in his gender and with that sexuality, while Emma Lou struggles with her race and the colorism that is placed onto her that she must learn to adapt to. They both struggle with finding their own self-identity, but the development of the characters own self and their individuality is what will stand out in Harlem. However their sense of self is divided. Does Jake settle down or does he keep living his life the way that many other black men did at the time in Harlem. Should Emma Lou listen to what others are saying to her or should she conform to the expectations that the lighter skinned people around her have for her? These are the questions that are answered near the end of each novels. Jake is on the journey to self-discovery, but what sets him apart from others in this journey, is the evolution of his own sexuality which is very apparent to the reader in the beginning. The readers know what he is like, but at the same time they also dont know what he is completely like because there are some things about him that have just not been explored yet. Jake is very comfortable with his own sexuality and his sexual freedom, as well as his own masculinity. He is defined by his sexual desires. He goes to clubs in Harlem and the other big cities that he has traveled to. Despite this Jake is not as sexually deviant as most people and his friends portray him to be. Deep down he just wants to be with someone. Because he cant show this side to those around him goes around with the women that he meets. We know that we are dealing with more than his sexual matters. The speakeasyrs that he goes to around town all of the time allow him to further discover his sexual being, despite the reader already knowing that he already has. Throughout the beginning book, he gets into sexual relationships with multiple women, even leaving one who wished he would hit her when they got into a fight. Jake needs to work on being himself and not relying on the women around him to get by. He can still find a nice woman to finally settle down with, but he wants one who will be fine with letting him be able to do work of his own. Jake wanted to settle down with someone, which he does for a period of times. For that time period he settles with Rose, until she was with another man when he was out when he was away and when she asked him to hit her and he refused, she left, never to be seen again, however Jake only does this because of his desire to have someone in a steady relationship with him at the time. Jake did not care. He did not love her, he had never felt any deep desire for her. He had gone to live with her simply because she had asked him when he was in a fever mood for a steady mate. (McKay 114). Jake has a set idea of women and thinks he knows how to deal with their sexual matters and how they live. He thinks he can be with any women he so pleases because of his good looks and he thinks he knows exactly what he wants, but the reader knows that he does not truly know what he wants, or else he would have settles down with a woman. Also knowing that Jake is always with a different woman the reader can infer that he really does not know what exactly he wants. However, over that s tarts to slow down along with his sexual affairs in general during his time aboard the Pennsylvania Railway, once he meets Ray. After that he doesnt seem to be involved with women as much as he used to, that is until he saw Felice again. Love should be joy lifting man out of the humdrum ways of life. He had always managed to delight in love and yet steer clear of the hate and violence that govern it in his world. His love nature was generous and warm without any vestige of the diabolical and sadistic. (McKay 328). Jake wants to find love, but he has trouble with dealing with the hurt that it may bring onto him, just in case it goes bad on him. He shows that he can fall in love, as he does with Felice the first moment that he encountered her. They walked along Leno Avenue. He held her arm. His flesh tingled. He felt as if his whole body was a flaming wave. [ ] She was beautiful. He loved the curious color on her cheek. (McKay 12) [ ] while Jake is offered free sex from Miss Curdy, in Harlem he gives Felice ?all the money he ?has left in the world.(Lewis 371) Jake does this because he finds her beautiful enough to pay her to have sex with him, despite being prostitution and that being all of the money that he has left. Jake is set apart from all of the other men that he knows, most of the other men dont settle down. Even Jakers closest friend, Zeddy, will find any girl and try to live off of them, he does this with Susy when he moves in with her, telling Jake his motive That she is not attractiv e but that she makes great food. Jake somewhat does this with Rose, but he does it because he wants comfort with another woman, one that does not have to end up being just a sexual encounter where they never happen to see that person ever again, but still, he does not love her. By the end Jake does not really seem to care what the other men think of him, especially his best friend Zeddy, who turns on him, due to jealousy. By the end, it seems that he wants to be able to provide for the woman that he will end up with, which is why he takes Felice with him for a new, fresh start, to Chicago, after Jake gets into the fight with Zeddy. He still doesnt exactly know what he wants but he does know that if he wants to settle down, possibly with Felice, he needs to move away from all of the surrounding problems, for a fresh start, so that he can finally get an idea of what kind of relationship he actually wants with her. In The Blacker the Berry Emma Lou is on the discovery to finding her own racial identity among her own race. Due to growing up in a mixed family, where everyone is blue-veined and her own family discriminates against her, Emma Lou has trouble accepting herself. She feels left out of her family and her town, with her being the only dark-skinned person in Boise. Emma Lou had been born in a semi-white world, totally surrounded by an all-white one, and those few dark elements that had forced thei r way in had either been shooed away or else greeted with derisive laughter.(Thurman 5) Being in that white world and with her family fitting in with that white world due to the lightness of the skin, combined with her family looking down on her makes her very self-conscious. Despite this, this is something that the narrator conceals from the reader. Instead she externalizes her problems onto those around her. When Emma Lou meets Hazel, another dark-skinned woman, at the University of Southern California, she turns her away by making fun of her, along with her peers. Emma Lou does this because Hazel is being herself and not really caring about what the others think of her by dressing a certain, which Emma describes her appearance as circus-like, she can be vulgar, and she was performing for the students because she thought that it was fun. Hazel juxtaposes against Emma Lou, with Hazel being the one closest to her true self with Emma Lou being the opposite. Hazel doesnt really care what the others think of her so when Emma Lou is making fun of those who racially identify closest to her own skin tone, she immediately shuts them out, instead of making friends with them. Emma Lou always felt like she was an outsider. Her own family shamed her for something that she could not help, her dark skin, her own mother calling her evil later on in the novel. Emma Lou even tried many different ways to lighten her skin, so that she could feel like less of an outsider to her family, but nothing ever worked for her. To make up for that Emma Lou starts to date men with light skin, something that makes her feel better if she can be dark and get a light skinned man, then she will end up with a good life. However there was one exception, a man named John, with whom she dated for a little while before she decided that he was too dark for her, she then, stroking her ego, by saying how poor he must be feeling to be broken up with her. When Emma Lou thinks this it makes her feel like she was above him, despite having a similar skin tone. When Emma Lou starts seeing Alva, she falls in love with him because she believes that he loves her. She still feels overshadowed by Geraldine, another woman that Alva is seeing at the same time, with the knowledge of Emma Lou, because Geraldine is light-skinned, and she gets to go to all of the parties. That shows Emma Lou that Alva likes a light-skinned woman because she is easier to show off to people, whereas Emma Lou cannot be shown off for the risk of driven away from those in the community. But Alva unknowingly helps Emma Lou realize that she doesnt need Alva to make her feel good about herself, when she realizes that he is not as great as she thought he was due to him not taking care of the child that he has with Geraldine, that Emma Lou takes care of because Geraldine ran off. This becomes the turning point for Emma Lou when she realizes she needs to stop running away from her problems. Emma Lou searches for self-identity within a community defined by all different types of classifications, whether it be race, gender, or sexuality. But wherever she goes she never seems to e scape colorism. When she moves to Los Angeles to go to college where she believed that she would be able to be treated better by people in general, due to it being a big city, but she gets it even worse. When she wanted to join a sorority, because she was not light-skinned, she was turned away. She finds colorism and prejudice in New York and in Harlem. She had left Boise to get away from all of the prejudice that she was feeling, only to be met by even more. Emma finally realizes that she had spent almost her entire life resenting herself for something that she could not change, and she decides to never run away again, while at the same time running away from Alva, but as a point to have a fresh start, where she can work on herself. In Pyrrhic Victory, it seems as if Thurman is trying to resolve Emma Lours struggle with self-identity through sacrifice within her own community, however Emma Lou decides to stop running away from her problems in order to search for her inner self (Cook 141-142). Emma knows that there are other people like her out there that have to deal with the exact same things, and that she needs to learn how to accept herself. She may not know exactly how to get there but she knows that she needs to start with the first step†getting away from what she has now to start anew. By the end of the novels, they each learn how to adapt to their own expectations of themselves. Their own identity is not fully developed but they know how to build off of their own sense of self and they know that they have to work on their own identity and not what other people see them as. The somewhat abrupt endings of the novels and not knowing what will happen to the characters afterwards, helps articulate that there are still some things out there that they have not yet discovered about themselves, but in the moment, they know that they are going in the direction they should be.