I think that this reading was too long!!I was interested in the beginning of the reading, but then I started to lose interest towards the end. But there were some things I liked that were discussed in the reading. I like how the reading talked about how human beings always want to know what each other's “story” is. I'm this type of person. I'm always interested in finding out things about new people. Here at school, when I meet someone new, one of the first things I ask them is what their major is. I have to admit that I do form assumptions a lot of the time about people before I even actually talk to them. I don't always like the fact that I do this because to me it’s stereotyping. I wouldn't want someone else to stereotype me, so that is why I try hard not to stereotype others, especially if I form a negative opinion about someone. It was nice reading about this subject in the reading. I thought it was helpful that the reading explained the difference between a, "Gist", and an, "Essence”. I didn't really know what the meaning of either word was so it was helpful that each term was defined clearly. Like I mentioned before, when meeting new people I like to know a lot about them, and so I like it when they give me their gist about themselves so I can get an idea of what they're about. I was a bit confused as to why our identity relates to our genetics and family structures at first. But as I read on, I clearly understood what the author was saying. In my opinion the author is saying that people can go to all different degrees to change their appearance and identity, but they can't change where they grew up and such and how their family structure was. I liked how symbolic functions and advertising were discussed! I beleive that people do form many of their opinions on things based on the ads that represent them and such. I know I do!