Examination Card 9

For many people, self-expression is an important part of their identity. Talk about yourself. Include the following:

• What youth cultures do you know? Describe some of them.
• Do you belong to any subculture? Why? Why not?

A subculture is a group of young people whose beliefs and ways of behavior make them different from the rest of the society. There are a great number of subcultures and some of the most popular are Punks, Goths and Emo.

Punks are very unusual. They have brightly colored spiked hair and they wear shocking clothes and metal chains. They also have a lot of tattoos and piercings. Their music is very loud and aggressive. They say that it is their way to show people around them that they do not agree with the norms and values of the society they live in.

Goths wear black. They have very black hair and try to look as thin and pale as possible. They read Bram Stocker, an Irish writer who wrote the vampire tale Dracula, talk about the end of the world and are attracted by everything connected with death.

The expression of emotions is the main rule for Emo. They have their own fashion and hairstyle and they prefer pink and black colors.

A lot of teenagers join a subculture because they think that this will help them to express their individuality, that is, to feel that they are different from everybody else.

As for me, I do not belong to any youth subcultures. I think that there are more constructive ways for self-expression. From my point of view, those people who really want to understand who they are do not waste their time on showing off. They look for some kind of activity which might interest them and try to excel in it. I think that everyone who is looking for a way to express their individuality should remember that Work is the ultimate form of self-expression.