Journal - 9

Through the research she conducts, the author, Katrina Powell, wants to understand the self-representation process of college students in their writings. As well, she is trying to understand how students define themselves through the restrictions they are placed under in their schooling. In doing so, Powell has divided the students’ self-representation into three different stages, 1) reproducing dominant discourses, 2) resisting dominant discourses, and 3) negotiating the tension.

To collect data, Powell conducts three different case studies, thus giving her a good overview of how students defined themselves within the limitations of each situation. Moreover, she conducted small studies in religiously-affiliated, liberal arts colleges and studied different catholic schools also..

I feel that my peers use “self-representation” by basing who they are on the environment we are in and through the actions of the people and friends we are around. Some people will represent themselves in a different manner according to the people they are currently around. Also, in our day and age a big part of “self-representation”, I believe, is based on what kind of music we listen to and what activities we are involved in, as well as a few other factors. I would base how I represent myself on: A) My religion, B) My music, C) My friends, D) My sport- rowing, E) The area I grew up in.