2. How do you think your family and friends would define who you are?
CJ—“Self Perception”
How do you think your family and friends would define who you are?
Do you think you and your family/friends see you like you see yourself?
How is their perception of you similar?
How is it different?
Explain.

3. Please take out the following:
A black pen
A highlighter
Please take out the following:

4. As I read the poem out loud, I want you to do the following:
Circle unfamiliar words.
Put a checkmark in the margin if you have a question or make a connection to something read.
Borges and I

5. Look up and define unfamiliar words within the poem.
Read (again) and annotate the text.
Make notes on the following:
Similarities/differences between “I” and the other one the author refers to as “Borges.”
Explain the allusion to Spinoza in the second paragraph.
How is this prose-poem structured? Outline what Borges writes about 1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc.
Borges and I

6. Think/Pair/Share
Why is understanding one’s identity important? Be specific and use examples from the reading.
Discuss your thoughts with your seat partner.

7. Based on your checkmarks, write three discussion questions about the poem.
Borges and I

8. What do you believe Borges means by the last line: “I do not know which one of us has written this page”?
Discuss your thoughts with your seat partner.
Think/Pair/Share

9. Reflection Answer the following questions:
Based on your reading and discussion, What do you think the title, Borges and I, means? Use specific examples from the reading to support your response.
The author writes, “Years ago, I tried to free myself from him…” Do you think one can ever free one’s self of one’s identity? Explain?
Reflection

10. Writing your Own Version
Using a clean, lined piece of paper, write your own version of “Borges and I” Your version must:
Discuss two distinct “selves”
Use a minimum of three vocabulary words from the original
Writing your Own Version

11. Who am I? (What influences my identity?)
Am I who I think I am? Are my thoughts mine?
How do we decide which identities we reveal?
Can we break away from our identity?

12. How can we question the world around us?
In what ways does society shape identity? (gender, culture, race, etc.)
Why is our identity based on money and capitalism in modern society?