Diablo Valley College Griot & Self Reflection Paper

Griot – a West African historian, storyteller, poet and/or musician.  The Griot is responsible for maintaining an oral record of tribal history in the form of music, poetry, and storytelling.  For more information, watch the following videos:

Interview 2-3 people who are able to share with you about your history and your ancestry, and present your findings in an essay and griot-style in a 5-7 minute video.  Please do not simply provide a family tree but instead provide rich, colorful stories that illustrate your family’s history and traditions.  You may wish to interview grandparents, great grandparents, great aunts and uncles, etc. After conducting the interviews, write a paper and create a video on how your family history may have influenced your self-identity development.

Please include in your essay your responses to at least two of the Content Items below. 

Content Items:

1. How do you define yourself? How has your family history influenced this definition? 
2. Describe your qualities that you like?
3. What did your primary caregivers teach you about being a woman/man?
4. How has your culture influenced your gender-role identity?
5. What influences (e.g., family, friends, internet, books, movies, religion, etc.) have shaped your attitudes about sexuality and sexual behavior?
6. What did you learn about love in your family of origin?
7. How do you express your love to others?