Essay Impacts of Social Identity on Individual Identity. The work is to be 5 pages with three to five sources, with in-text citations and a reference page. This greatly affects ones individual identity because one’s identity depends on the positive or negative evaluation of the entire group. Social identity contributes to one’s sense of personal security, companionship, as well, as emotional attachment. For instance, if one belongs to a minor ethnic group, such as Sonny’s case, or a culturally disrespected job such as Paul’s case. This paper will illustrate some effect of social identity portrayed in Paul’s Case, and Sonny’s Blues stories, two young men struggling to find their identities.Paul’s and Sonny’s cases by Willa Cather and James Baldwin respectively, portray similar issues particularly on social identity and how Paul’s and Sonny’s identities have been impacted by social identity aspects. Both have lost a family member and unlike in a normal family, they have grown in an incomplete family. Paul lost his mother at an early age and was left under the guidance of his dad. He, however, did not get along with his father to a point of avoiding him at all coast. The lack of connection between the two can directly be translated as a lack of parental guidance to Paul. Sonny, on the other hand, lost both his parents and at an early age was arrested with neither the knowledge nor contacts of his only brother. They only got together when sonny came out of prison and his brother allowed him to live in his house because he had promised their mother to take care of him (Galinsky et al, 225). Their environment has greatly contributed to their choice of life, as well as, development of their self-identity. The reason for sonny being in prison was his involvement in drugs and after getting out he started pursuing his dream of being a musician. Similarly, Paul wanted to be an artist, a dream that got him into trouble just like Sonny. He stayed out late in theatres and when he went home he sneaked into the basement and spent the night in fear of his father.