A Prologue to the Documentary Finding Home

Open Access
- Author:
- Adcroft, Patrick Joseph
- Area of Honors:
- English
- Degree:
- Bachelor of Arts
- Document Type:
- Thesis
- Thesis Supervisors:
- Lisa Ruth Sternlieb, Thesis Supervisor
Dr. Marcy Lynne North, Thesis Honors Advisor - Keywords:
- Identity
Home
Immigration - Abstract:
- In what way does the place we call home define us? Originally, that question served as the solid bedrock to which the foundation of my senior thesis rested. Simple, I thought. Straight forward, I assured myself. However, as I immersed myself in the project, my confidence in the simplicity of this thesis began to wane. I quickly came to realize the implications surrounding the question were so much more mysterious, shrouded in their ambiguity, complicated by reality. For example: What happens if a person loses their home, or if it’s taken from them—in what ways does that distort their sense of identity? Or, what if they choose to it give it up willingly and move somewhere else in search of a better life, only later to realize they want it back—do their native communities accept them as they once were, as one of them? Whether we’re proud of that pleasant place, or embarrassed by the indelible mark it left on us, the place we call home plays a formative role in shaping who we are as humans. This thesis investigates the stories of three people (Ishban, Ben, and Rachael) and the city (Scranton) which united them in their search of a place to call home. One wished to worship without worrying. Another, to work for something worth more than a paycheck. And the last wanted nothing more than to wander for a while. In the end, they each came to their unique and profound conclusion on the nature of home and what it means to their identity.