When it comes to nationality, I feel as though there are a few definitions for this term. There are three big variations of this term in my opinion. One is the literal meaning which is basically where you come from or where your native country is. Another one is your newly adopted nationality or the one I am most closely associated with, which in my case is being an American although it isn’t my country of origin. Finally the third one is a smaller subset similar to a community that defines you more so than your newly adopted nationality. The literal definition of nationality basically states that I am Indian and come from Mumbai, India but this doesn’t say anything about me personally or reveal anything about how I express or show my “nationality”. My newly adopted nationality is me being an American because I was born in America and I being raised to follow a certain American standard. This definition of nationality is closer to my own definition of the phrase. My personal definition is similar to that of Benedict Anderson’s where nationality is also closely linked with community and that almost shapes who you are. When someone asks me what my nationality is, the answer is never so simple as just “Indian”. My answer is normally, “Well, I am Indian, but I was born in America… but I am a very typical New Yorker.” After this short explanation someone’s follow up question is usually, “Where are you from in New York?” and then there is another short explanation of how I lived in Queens as a child and then became a Long Island kid and now I’m going to school in Jamaica, Queens. I think that more specific “nationality” shows who you are as a person more than just the literal definition. In the beginning of the semester we focused on talking a lot about passports and documents like that which just give you straight facts about someone but no insight on those certain facts. For example a passport maybe able to show someone’s name, age, date of birth, and a small headshot of them. This group of information by itself is very straight forward and doesn’t describe one person too well. In my opinion, it is very similar to the literal definition of nationality. If I were to tell you that I am Indian and come from Mumbai, India, it is almost the same as me giving you my passport without saying anything more. With this information alone there is nothing to expand on because I personally am not very close with my Indian background. Being Indian, most people would assume that I can probably speak a different language from where I came from, maybe have different dietary restrictions, and practice a different religion but this is almost all wrong because the literal meaning of nationality doesn’t always mean anything. On top of only being to India a couple times, I can barely understand the language, much-less speak it, and I practically do the opposite of everything my religion says. I know in a lot of cases the literal meaning of nationality is outdated because a lot of people aren’t so in tuned with their origins. I know in my personal group of friends no one takes their literal nationality very seriously as opposed to this new American lifestyle they’ve adopted and then more so the suburban Long Island lifestyle they have been living since they were young children. Keeping this passport analogy going, there is still an important aspect to the passport which is in the back where there are stamps that show where you have traveled. These places and stamps are the only things on this passport that you may be able to expand on and maybe make a couple assumptions as to why someone went to those places, or what those places tell about someone. In this case I’m comparing this to the idea of a newly adopted nationality that so many people in America use now. Many people say that they “are American” which my newly adopted nationality is also, because I do consider myself “an American”. With the term American, it is interesting because there are many subsets of American. There is not just one generic American unlike some other nationalities in my opinion. Americans normally represent freedom and dreams, because we as Americans have learned to think big and are pushed to do anything we set our mind to. Even though my ancestors were born in India and didn’t come to America until my grandparents, I still consider myself a full blown American by simply the way I act, and how my outlook on life is. As Americans we are bred differently and put into our own special subsets depending on our location. The reason why there is not one generic American is because there are so many different subsets. For example, being a New Yorker in itself is a subset, but there are even other subsets within being a New Yorker because if you are from Queens, Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, or Long Island you are also going to be very different. There are tons of these mini subsets all throughout the country and the within the different states too. Unlike a passport, this final variation of nationality is more focused on details and specificity as opposed to straight facts. This last variation is how modern day nationality depends on the community you live in or correlate yourself with. This variation shapes how people think and act, unlike the literal meaning which may or may not be relevant, and the newly adopted one, where this issue is only touched upon but not clearly specified. My personal subset that I fall under in this last community nationality is being a New Yorker who lives in Long Island. I am a strong believer in geographical location affecting your nationality and actions. As a New Yorker I am very fast paced, I live on very little sleep, and I think I am in the most important place on the planet. Although that is my inner New Yorker coming out, the fact that I live in Long Island shows that my school district was very good and safe, I have been protected from a lot of the world, and although I don’t live in the city, I act as though I do. I went to Herricks High School which is a very upscale public school on Long Island and was known for getting extremely high grades and being very good at music. In Long Island, most people are upper-middle class and higher, so most people are very polite and courteous as opposed to the normal rough treating New Yorker. Overall I believe that the only nationality that shapes someone is their community nationality because the other two variations are nowhere near as personal as this one. Out of the three different variations of nationality the literal definition is very limited in expansion and is just a generic title which is used to answer the question “what is your nationality?” The newly adopted variation is used to qualify the nationality that you think you are or that you closely correlate with, and begins to touch the surface of why you act the way you do. Finally the community nationality is the most detailed and informative when it comes to finding out about someone’s personality and mindset. Although I personally believe that community nationality is the one that matters most in trying to learn about another person, newly adopted nationality is useful in trying to identify what nationality someone is, and the literal definition is just the title given to you by a parent or society, the issue of nationality is clearly up to opinion. The definition of nationality doesn’t have to be the place you think it is.