Hua 1

Ying Hua
Professor Beadle
English 113B
4 April, 2016
Be Respect
To know who I am is a problem for most of people, but not everyone is brave to find the
answer. In the book Everyday which is by David Levithan, the main character is a unique person
named A. A is unique because he trying to find who he is and his name is very special. In the
book, A is a person that live in different body everyday. He has different life and he need face
different situation everyday, but there is one thing is the same everyday, it is he fall in love with
the same girl, her named Rhiannon. A is trying to find out who he is through being in different
bodies and in different experiences; And he is actually a respectful person and he is really easy to
get used in different environment and situations. Respect is an important identity in real life. This
identity can help people to achieve their goals. Through respect, people get more opportunities
from others, because the definition of the respect means treat others well. A treat the body well,
and though his respect for the bodies, he finds out his own identity.
Respect can help people achieve their goal and get more opportunities because respect is an
expression of agency: it is deliberate, a matter of directed rather than grabbed attention
(Respect). Respect is an identity that can easy get peoples attention, it can attract people. It also
is a strategy to attack people. When you get others attention, it is easy to get more opportunities,
and than can easy to achieve the goals. To be successful, the first step is to get the opportunities.
Respect make people getting closer. When you face a unknown people, no one have to treat you

Hua 2
good, you need start it. The research shows that, It is common people say: In order to have my
respect, you have to earn it (Spagoletti et al.). People always do not give their respect at first,
but respect from others need to earn it. So that you need give your respect first. A is a person that
give his respect to everything, this is a good and an important identity he has.
Everyone has their own identity, but everyone is on their way to find it. The identity is
consisting from a lot of elements. It depends on the environment your growth, the environment
you live and the different culture background. According to the Self-Identity and Culture which
is by Ronald L. Jackson II, Cerise L. Glenn and Kesha Morant Williams, they mentioned that,
The importance of an identity changes depending on the situation and the value placed on that
identity in the numerous social roles people play in their daily life (127). Different culture and
habit forms different identity, and through the changing of our role, the identity is changing.
Through the process of growth, at the beginning, people are playing the role of son or daughter,
and later on, they are changing to the student, friends and other roles. There are a lot of different
events happen everyday, people solve different problems. And because of the different roles, the
way to solve the problems are different. People are learning different things through different
situation, they collect these experience, combine with their own thoughts, and then form
complicated identities.
People are trying to find out their identities. Levithan mentioned that, Everyday I am
someone else. I am myself I know I am myself but I am someone else (1). Everyday A live
in different body, he wants to find out his identity though different peoples experiences. This
sentence shows that A is a respectful and rational person. He knows that he is on another persons
body and he respect that body and their mind. He knows in that body live in two people, who are
the owner and him. He respects them and respect himself. He can distinguish the relation

Hua 3
between others and himself. He separates everything between him and others shows he respect
everything in that body, he do not change others, and try to not change himself. He is a rational
and respectful person.
Easy to get used into a new environment is another identity for A. He faces to different
world and environment everyday. Levithan mentioned that, For most people, this world be
surprise. But I am strangely used to it (Everyday). This sentence points out that most of people
will be surprise in his world, but he will not. His life is completely different than a normal
person, he need to live in different body everyday, this is his life style. It begins since his born.
But for the normal people, their life style is not like this, normal people can control themselves,
they have the rights to decide what life style they want to be, decide what they want to do. This
comparative shows that A is a person that is easy to get used in any new environment, this is his
strength, and because this strength, he tries and finally achieved his goal. He was easy to get used
in anything, not only the environment. When finally said this in the end of the book, this also
shows that at the end, he finds out his identity, he finally knows who he is, know more things
about himself and this world. Thus, this also is his another important identity. This also shows
that A respect himself, because he accepts the truth and make himself feel good and also try his
best to do not let other notice him.
A respect to everything, and his respectful help him to achieve his goal. A have his love, a
girl named Rhiannon. The first time they meet, A is in her boyfriend body, they have a lot of
chance to talk. A start loves her. After that day, A still change into different body, but everyday,
he start a new habit, which is to check the distance between he and Rhiannon. Because A lives in
another body, he needs to live in that persons life style, do what they do in their daily life, this
action shows that A is respect for that body. But if that day, there is some free time and it is not

Hua 4
very far to Rhiannon, he will go see her. To try to get more opportunity to stay with her. A wants
to fall in love with her, but because of his special secret, there are a lot of difficulties between
them. A do not have the courage to tell Rhiannon the truth. Later on, there is a party, Rhiannon
feel something wrong about the Nathan Dalary, who is A at that day. Several days after, A meet
Rhiannon again, he have the courage to tell her the truth, he said that, Every morning, I wake up
in different body. It is been happening since I was born (Levithan 93). When he said this, he
keeps his voice very clam. He finally has the courage to tell Rhiannon the fact. When this action
happens, it already means that he achieves his goal. He keeps his voice calm, this action shows
that he gives his respect to Rhiannon, he already tells her the information he wants to say, he
respects for her decision and accept any respond from her. When he tell these to Rhiannon, he
already succeed, he tried, and than he keep clam shows he respect anything will happen later.
A want to find out his identity because he feels that he is different from others, he wants to
find out his identity to prove himself. In the culture and communication, Ansstacia Kurylo
mentioned that, A desire to be self-aware is a strong motivation to gain greater intercultural
awareness (14). A have the desire to find out who he is, he have the motive to find out it. This is
his reason, also is his motive. In the process A find out his identity, he lives in different body
everyday, he faces in different problems everyday, and face different culture everyday, he has to
deal different problems. Therefore, the desire is a strong motivation to improve, to gain more
stuff from different culture, to have more chance to figure out who he is. To make people try
their best to do it.
Nowadays, people are easy to lose themselves, because there are a lot of attack from outside
world. Though the growth of technology, people also are changing. Compare now and the past,
people use car to instead walk, the invention of the car make the life easier, people can drive to

Hua 5
anywhere they want, and it saves a lot of time, but this also make them being lazy. In addition,
people also use phone instead talk. In the restaurant, we can see that most of people are playing
in their phone. Although there are several friends next to them, people still keep eyes on their
phone. Computer is another technology to change people. They use computer to instead writing.
There are less people handwrite stuff nowadays. On the other way, internet can make people stay
in front of the computer for whole day, people have less communication face to face. These
action are disrespect for other, and we can see to see it in our normal life. The world is
developing, but there are some people are being lazing and disrespectful. But there are not all
people like this, there are sill a lot of work hard today, and still have a lot of successful people.
The success for different people are different, but they all have the same identity that is they
respect everything in their life, and than lead them to achieve their goal.
In conclusion, respect is a very important identity in every situation, it can help people to
have more opportunities and lead them to achieve their goals. A is this kind of person, he is
respectful, and also easy to get used in every environment. He respect the body he stay in;
respect their mind; he also respect his own thought, respect himself. To treat everything include
himself well. This lead he try and achieve his goal.

Hua 6

Work Citied
Jackson II, Ronald L. and Cerise L. Glenn and Kesha Morant Williams. Self-Identity and
Culture. Kurylo, Anastacia. Inter/Cultural Communication. Los Angeles: Sage
Publications, 2013. 117-139. Print.
Kurylo, Anastacia. Culture and Communication. Inter/Cultural Communication. Los Angeles:
Sage Publications, 2013. 3-21. Print.
Levithan, David. Everyday. New York. Alfred A. Knopf. 2012. Print.
Respect. Stanford. 10 Sep 2013. Web. 1 April 2016.
Spagnoletti, Carla L. and Robert M. Arnold. R-E-S-P-E-C-T: Even More Difficult to Teach
than to Define NCBI. 20 March 2007. Web. 2 April 2016.