A. Literacy Connections and Applications · Literacy for Life: Transferable Skills, Digital Media Literacy and Diverse Voices

Identity, Self and Belonging: Diverse Voices and Experiences in Texts

A3 A3.2About 70 minutes

Learning goals

I can explain the concepts of identity, self and sense of belonging, and how they appear in texts.
I can analyze how a text represents a character's or speaker's identity and belonging, using evidence.
I can explain how historical contexts and lived experiences shape the perspectives of diverse individuals and communities, including in Canada.
I can choose and respond to culturally responsive and relevant texts that act as mirrors, windows and sliding glass doors.

Words to know

identity
Who a person is: the many parts that make them themselves, such as family, culture, language, faith, place, gender, abilities, interests and roles.

self
A person's own sense of who they are, which may differ from how others see them.

sense of belonging
Feeling accepted, valued and included in a group, place or community.

intersectionality
The idea that a person's identities (such as race, gender, language and ability) overlap and together shape their experiences.

lived experience
Knowledge that comes from personally living through something, not just learning about it.

culturally responsive text
A text that reflects, respects and authentically represents the cultures, identities and experiences of its readers or of the people it is about.

historical context
The events, laws and conditions of a time period that shape people's lives and the texts they create.

Remember from Grade 8

In Grade 8 you analyzed cultural elements in texts (norms, values, social hierarchy, language, taboos) and how texts address diversity and inclusion. Grade 9 asks you to explore and analyze identity, self and belonging in culturally responsive texts, and to understand the historical contexts, contributions, lived experiences and perspectives of diverse individuals and communities, including in Canada.

Let's start with your name

Who named you? Does your name have a meaning, a story, a language? Do people at school say it the same way your family does? Do you go by a nickname in some places and your full name in others?

A name is a small text that holds a lot of identity. This lesson is about how texts (poems, stories, memoirs, films, songs) explore who we are and where we belong.

Identity, self and belonging

Identity is made of many parts: family and ancestry, languages, culture and faith, the places and lands we come from or live on, gender identity, abilities, interests and roles. These parts overlap (this is called intersectionality) and they can change over time.
Self is your own sense of who you are. It may differ from how others see you, or from labels others put on you.
Sense of belonging is feeling accepted and valued in a group or place. People can belong in many places at once, or feel caught between them.

Texts often build tension from gaps: between how a character sees themselves and how others see them, or between the communities they belong to.

An identity map. Every person's map is different, and the parts overlap and change over time.

Mirrors, windows and sliding glass doors

Scholar Rudine Sims Bishop (in a 1990 essay) described books as:

Mirrors: texts where you see yourself and your experiences reflected.
Windows: texts that let you look into lives and experiences different from yours.
Sliding glass doors: texts you can step through, in imagination, into another world.

Everyone needs all three. When readers rarely see themselves in texts, they may feel invisible; when readers only ever see themselves, they miss others' realities. Culturally responsive and relevant texts are written with authentic knowledge of the cultures and experiences they represent, often by creators from those communities.

Texts can be mirrors, windows or sliding glass doors. The same book can be a mirror for one reader and a window for another.

Historical contexts and lived experiences in Canada

To understand a text about identity, you often need its historical context. Diverse communities in Canada have contributed to the country and have also faced laws and decisions that shaped their lives and their stories. A few examples:

Africville was a Black community on the shore of the Bedford Basin in Halifax, Nova Scotia, with roots in the 1800s. In the 1960s the City of Halifax relocated its residents and demolished the community. The city apologized in 2010. Descendants continue to tell Africville's story through memoirs, music, documentaries and an annual reunion.
Chinese Canadians helped build the Canadian Pacific Railway. From 1885, the federal government charged a head tax on Chinese immigrants, which rose to $500 in 1903, and the Chinese Immigration Act of 1923 blocked almost all Chinese immigration until 1947. The Government of Canada apologized in 2006.
Franco-Ontarians: in 1912, Ontario's Regulation 17 restricted French-language teaching in schools. Franco-Ontarian families and teachers resisted for years; the rule stopped being enforced in 1927, though it stayed on the books until 1944. Today Franco-Ontarians celebrate their identity with their own flag (green and white, with a lily and a trillium).

When you read a text by or about a community, ask: What history might shape this perspective? What contributions and strengths does it show, not just struggles? Texts by First Nations, Métis and Inuit creators are the focus of the next lesson.

A sample text

Read this short original poem twice: once for meaning, once for how it builds identity and belonging.

Two Languages at the Supper Table (an original poem written for this lesson)

At school my name is shortened,
two syllables, quick as a hallway.
At home it is whole again,
my grandmother saying it slowly
like she is pouring tea.

I answer in English.
She answers in the language
I understand but can't quite catch:
a ball that rolls just past my glove.

Tonight she teaches me one word,
the one for snow that comes back after spring.
I say it wrong. She laughs, not unkindly.
I say it again. I am both places at once,
and for one word, I belong to both.

Worked example

Let's analyze identity and belonging in the poem

Analyze how Two Languages at the Supper Table represents the speaker's identity, sense of self and belonging. Use evidence.

Identity: the speaker's identity includes two languages and two places (school and home). Evidence: "At school my name is shortened" vs "At home it is whole again."
Self and how others see you: at school, the speaker's name, a key part of identity, is cut down to fit ("quick as a hallway"). The simile suggests school is fast and doesn't make room for the whole person.
Belonging and the gap: the speaker understands the grandmother's language but "can't quite catch" it; the image of a ball that "rolls just past my glove" shows a language that is close but slipping away, a feeling many children of immigrant families describe.
Change and connection: the grandmother teaches one word, and the speaker tries twice. "She laughs, not unkindly" shows the home is a safe place to make mistakes.
Resolution: "I am both places at once, / and for one word, I belong to both." Belonging isn't choosing one identity; it's holding both, even if only for a moment.
Craft: contrast (school/home), similes (hallway, pouring tea, ball past a glove), and the short final line create a quiet, hopeful tone.

The poem represents identity as two languages and two places, with a gap between how school sees the speaker and how home does. Through contrast and similes, it shows a sense of belonging built through relationship and effort (learning one word), ending with the idea that a person can belong to both.

Four moves for analyzing identity

When you analyze identity in a text: (1) name the parts of identity shown, (2) find the gap or tension (self vs others, one place vs another), (3) track change, and (4) connect to context (history, community) if it helps. Avoid generalizing about a whole group from one character.

Just for fun

Funny-but-true: English borrows words from languages all over the world. Ketchup probably comes from a word in Hokkien, a Chinese language, for a fermented fish sauce. Recipes changed a lot before tomatoes took over!

Hands-on activity

Identity map and a text that mirrors you

You need: paper, coloured pencils or markers, and one text you love (a book, song, film, show, poem or podcast).

Draw your own identity map with at least six parts. Share only what you're comfortable sharing; this is yours.
Interview a family member about your name or a family story about belonging (moving, starting a new job, learning a language, joining a team). Write down two things you learned.
Decide whether your chosen text is a mirror, a window or a sliding glass door for you, and explain why in three sentences with an example.
Write a short poem or paragraph (6 to 10 lines) about a moment when you felt you belonged, or didn't. Use one contrast and one simile, like the sample poem.

What to look for: a thoughtful map, a clear mirror/window/door explanation, and a piece of writing with a contrast and a simile. Personal details are private unless your teen chooses to share.

Your turn

Define identity, self and sense of belonging.

What does intersectionality mean?

Explain mirrors, windows and sliding glass doors.

In the poem, what does the simile "quick as a hallway" suggest?

What year did the City of Halifax apologize for the destruction of Africville?

What was Regulation 17?

Why is it important to look at a community's contributions, not only its struggles?

More practice: warm-up

Name three parts of identity.

Who described books as mirrors, windows and sliding glass doors?

True or false: a person can only belong to one community.

What is lived experience?

In the poem, who teaches the speaker a word?

More practice: on your own

Explain how the ball image ("a ball that rolls just past my glove") represents the speaker's relationship with the language.

Why might a text be a mirror for one reader and a window for another? Give an example.

How might knowing the history of the head tax change how you read a story about a Chinese Canadian family in the early 1900s?

What is the difference between analyzing one character's identity and making a generalization about a group?

Identify one contrast in the poem and explain its effect.

Challenge

Write a short analytical paragraph (5 to 7 sentences) about how the final two lines of the poem resolve its tension. Use at least two quotations.

Explain how a historical context from this lesson could shape a present-day text by a member of that community. Be specific.

Some people argue that schools should assign only "classic" texts. Others argue for culturally responsive texts by diverse creators. Evaluate both views, and take a position.

Check your understanding

Quiz

Which best defines sense of belonging?

A text that lets a reader see into a life very different from their own acts as a:

Intersectionality means:

In the sample poem, the line "At home it is whole again" refers to:

Which is an accurate fact from this lesson?

Which analysis avoids stereotyping?

For parents and teachers

What this lesson teaches: A3.2 asks students to understand the historical contexts, contributions, lived experiences and perspectives of a diversity of individuals and communities, including in Canada, by exploring and analyzing identity, self and sense of belonging in culturally responsive and relevant texts.

How to help: Share the story of your teen's name and of your family's communities, if you're comfortable. Help them find a text that is a mirror for them, and one that is a window.

Sensitive topics: the lesson mentions real injustices (the demolition of Africville, the Chinese head tax and exclusion, Regulation 17) briefly and factually. Let your teen ask questions; if your family has connections to these histories, your perspective is valuable. The identity map is personal; your teen should choose what to share.

Facts used: Africville residents were relocated and the community demolished in the 1960s; Halifax apologized in 2010. The Chinese head tax began in 1885, rose to $500 in 1903; the Chinese Immigration Act (1923) excluded almost all Chinese immigrants until 1947; the federal apology was in 2006. Regulation 17 was issued in 1912, stopped being applied in 1927, and remained on the books until 1944. Rudine Sims Bishop's "mirrors, windows and sliding glass doors" essay was published in 1990. The poem was written for this site.

Common difficulties: generalizing from one character to a whole group; summarizing instead of analyzing; forgetting contributions and strengths.