Boost Your Reading Score: Migration and Identity
Welcome! Today’s reading passage delves into the complex and fascinating world of sociology, exploring how migration shapes cultural identity. When you encounter academic texts like this on your exam, focus on understanding the key definitions. The passage will introduce several important terms (like “diaspora” and “transnationalism”). Make sure you understand how the author defines and uses them.
Another key skill is to follow the argument. The author will build a case about how identity is not static but is actively “negotiated.” Look for transition words that show how ideas connect. To simulate exam conditions, try to read the text and answer all 10 questions in 20 minutes or less. Let’s get started.
Reading Passage
Keywords & Phrases
- Embodied: (verb) To be the embodiment of something means to be a tangible or visible form of an idea, quality, or feeling. We said migration “vividly embodied” the idea of interconnectedness, meaning it’s a perfect real-world example of it.
- Monolithic: (adjective) This describes something that is large, powerful, and indivisibly uniform, as if made from a single stone. We used it to describe the outdated view of identity as a “static and monolithic concept.”
- Posit: (verb) This is a formal verb that means to put forward as a basis for argument. We said contemporary perspectives “posit that identity is not something one simply possesses,” meaning this is the core argument they are making.
- Diaspora: (noun) This refers to a population of people who were scattered from their original homeland. As the passage explains, these communities maintain a strong connection to their place of origin.
- Nostalgic: (adjective) This describes a sentimental longing or wistful affection for a period in the past. We said the diasporic connection is “not merely nostalgic,” meaning it’s more than just a sweet memory; it’s an active, living connection.
- Transnationalism: (noun) This is a social phenomenon and scholarly research agenda describing the way contemporary migrants maintain significant, active connections to their home countries thanks to modern technology.
- Virtual co-presence: (phrase) This describes the state of feeling present in two or more places at once, enabled by technology. We used it to explain how a migrant can live in one country but be deeply engaged in the life of another.
- Assimilation: (noun) This is the process by which a person or group’s language and/or culture come to resemble those of another group. In the passage, it’s one possible path of identity negotiation for a migrant.
- Hybridity: (noun) In sociology, this refers to the process of mixing different cultural influences to create a new, blended or “hybrid” culture and identity.
- Zero-sum game: (idiom) This refers to a situation in which whatever is gained by one side is lost by the other, so the net change is always zero. We used it to say identity is not a zero-sum game, because you can add a new identity without losing your old one.
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