To prepare for a writing assignment, I always like to have research be done on the topic first. Once being given or choosing a topic, I look into many sources to have information-and if based on a topic of my choice, sources that relate to the research question so I’m not struggling to find sources at all. Once doing that, I like to write down summaries of what each source is about as well as list the information that stands out provided in the text. As said earlier, before I write I need to know if there are sources that are related to my research question, particularly for research where I’m able to choose my question so that I’m assured (credible) sources for the topic exist. By going through the process, I learn how to make the sources correlate with one another, following with additional information that’ll correlate with the next source; I do this so that my paper has a better flow to it. The only way my writing process has changed is by me having to break down each source more than once through assignments given. I find these assignments beneficial as it helps me better grasp the information in different perspectives and how I want to use it; It also helps me better word the final essay, as I try to avoid using repetitive words in each assignment, allowing me to find one that suits and sounds best. However, what hasn’t changed is my time management. Though I know not ideal, I usually do my writing assignments last minute as knowing I have x amount of days/hours left to turn it in helps me better focus on strictly just the assignment.

The essay I chose to review was “How Individual Upbringing Affects Young Adult Romantic Relationships”, which focused on how one’s upbringing influenced the romantic relationships they had later in life. Overall, I would grade the essay a 97.75%. Personally, i felt the writer executive the tasks of content, development, organization and their research question perfectly; I say this because they statistically questioned if positive or negative influences from your parents during childhood and adolescence will influence future interpersonal relationships, particularly romantic ones, by citing many sources and dividing one portion of the essay to focus on familial contributions as well as personality influences they may have potentially gained from their environment as a child.

The author, Zach Beauchamp, introduces us with a person who exemplified what an incel originally meant back when the term and community was formed so that we have it as a comparison for what present-day incels stand for. When first formed, the incel community was created for both sexes to provide comfort for the socially awkward and assist others in talking to the opposite sex; Whereas now, the incel community is mainly dominated by men who hold misogynistic views in place, justifying their hatred and (desired) violence towards women. They also hold these values in place due to the ideology that women would never be attracted to them, but instead a man that is deemed more physically attractive. The insider also notices and retells accounts of men who enter the community potentially as a way to not feel isolated in whatever experience of rejection they have gone through. This assists the insider and reader in recognizing who is part of the community, their values, experiences and perspectives. The incel community, though largely discussed online, nonetheless still largely represents a community of men with misogynistic concepts who desire, support and/or cause harm upon women. This reflects the social values a large amount of men within the Western society have towards women, which then is made more visible through politics and cultures that focus on women.

When I reflect on my privileges, the one that instantly comes to mind is where I live: Lincoln Center. Whenever I, a hispanic female, tell anyone this there’s always shock & the typical “are you rich” (I’m not unfortunately haha). As a PoC who has many relatives & friends that are PoC, I know this is a rare living circumstance for minorities. My father works for the company that runs the building we live in, & by deciding to be the on-duty superintendent for the building we live in my apartment rent free. My father being in this profession allows my mother to stay at home by choice & me being occasionally spoiled and financially provided for, as I do financially depend on him. This doesn’t mean I don’t see my family struggle financially here & there, but overall we are always provided for.

The online community I have decided to observe is the Animal Crossing fanbase on Twitter because I’ve been a part of that fanbase since it’s first game & it has been all I have been seeing on my Twitter feed. Due to this assignment’s task being that we have to observe an online community, a privilege I’ve come to acknowledge is having internet access in my house. Another is my family’s financial situation and the luxuries I receive from it; Being I have been spoiled all my life I was able to instantly join this community from the start, as my father was able to splurge on getting me the console its first game was released on. This leads to potential bias within the community I may not even fully be aware of yet. My family’s financial situation also comes to play as another privilege, as I have the console the new Animal Crossing game was released on.

In her essay, Out Patients, Elise Wu portrays those who have been diagnosed or self diagnosed with a disorder called factitious disorder (FD), with her being among those people. Upon her history of  faking severe illnesses, she decided to google why she does so out of guilt & concern & discovers a web page dedicated to the condition run by a Dr. Marc Feldman. Though abandoning it for 2 years, she returns to it & sees to her dismay that the forums under his page are not to assist those with the actual disorder, but rather those who know others with this disorder; These entries in the forum also don’t typically ask how to help those in their lives with the disorder, but rather how to distance or cut ties with the person & receive responses in great detail from others or from Dr. Feldman pitching for his book to be bought for more information & assistance. When Dr. Feldman finally posts a response that links to a support group, cravin4care, Wu finally discovers a forum for people who actually suffer from the disorder like herself. This is a drastic difference from the last forum setup & audience, as this forum requires subscribing to the list and will display public information. Ultimately, Wu, despite the noted difficulty there is for recovering from this order, decides to seek professional help upon the comfort crave4care provides her & gets a therapist who genuinely makes her feel supported.

Wu creates a verbal portrait of the two sites by contrasting their different appearances. Upon describing Dr. Feldman’s page she feels discomfort towards fully trusting & relying on the site, as she describes it to have a “sea green background” and at the top of the page, Dr. Feldman with an “expert smile”. In comparison to Dr. Feldman’s site, crave4care’s forum was one that was more trustworthy & comfortable to her as it provided a community for people like her, as well as “coming out” stories that reassured her. The footnotes she displays with her essay provide additional information for the context in which she is discussing and for citations.

An environment I have been in long enough to expect & understand the behaviors that are a part of it are the MTA trains. Typically I, along with many other commuters, will be on our phones listening to music, texting, on social media if we have data or a combination of those actions; Some are watching a show they downloaded off a streaming device, playing on gaming apps, or even talking on the phone with someone-not caring how much of their conversation is overshared. This type of behavior can cause those nearby to be annoyed, including me. It’s subtle, but when you see this repeated behavior enough you notice who the real New Yorkers are as you can often see the annoyance in their face. Same rules apply to when theres “showtime” in your train cart-a performance that either involves dancing or singing & when the performance is done, they ask for change. It’s usually tourists that give the performers money, but very rarely is a performance so unique that it grabs the attention of native New Yorkers. To grab our attention means the person or group was astounding, as New Yorkers show to have mastered the art of ignoring others. We tend to ignore people on the train when they’re performers, poor people asking for money, people acting out of social order & when a physical &/or verbal altercation is occurring. In regards to the poor & those not obeying society’s conduct, we acknowledge them but we also don’t. We may glance when they enter the cart or start speaking, but immediately we’ll turn our attention back to what we were doing before to avoid guilt or a possible threat. When it comes to altercations, some, like myself, will not look in the direction of where the voices are coming from to avoid attention being drawn to them. Others may start recording the altercation in secret or with no shame. New York City is just filled with so much culture and how we as a society process & respond to certain situations is one of them.

The article written by Jessica Pressler tells of the experiences of women who went from being strippers to criminal masterminds as they would use their wits & physical attraction to draw in wealthy men-usually ones that worked on Wall Street & were married-that they would later drug and steal thousands of dollars from. Almost immediately stated within the article is how different stripping was viewed due to third-wave feminism, as it went from being seen as degrading to “sexually liberating & financially empowering”. This could be one of the reasons why Rosie became a stripper along with her seeing how much strippers made in the documentary “G String Divas”. Rosie’s background info helped us better understand why the way she is & why she joined Samantha in “marketing”, as it explained her difficult upbringing (her parents abandoning her & her brother when they were young, getting in with the wrong crowd, dating bad men, getting into fights, eventually dropping out of school & this claim that her physique got her into trouble as well) & her need to financially provide for herself & later also her child. When describing people she worked alongside, she described their striking features, such as Samantha’s “Cleopatra black” hair. She also described some of her client’s while & after working as a stripper & compared them to being damsels in distress, as they would see these women as opportunities to vent about their lives. Their system of scamming men was working out fine until, in Rosie’s opinion, the girls got greedy as they wanted an easy “$50,000 tree” & not the forest Rosie saw. It’s not until one man with evidence that the girls scammed him were they arrested & charged. Karina, Marsi (two women involved in the scamming system Samantha & Rosie built up) & Samantha plead guilty while Rosie is awaiting trial. But, as stated early on in the article, Rosie is known to lie & after many interviews discussing this series of events with Pressler along with evidence to corroborate with it, she eventually claims that she made all of it up.

The article written by Jessica Pressler tells of the experiences of women who went from being strippers to criminal masterminds as they would use their wits & physical attraction to draw in wealthy men-usually ones that worked on Wall Street & were married-that they would later drug and steal thousands of dollars from. Almost immediately stated within the article is how different stripping was viewed due to third-wave feminism, as it went from being seen as degrading to “sexually liberating & financially empowering”. This could be one of the reasons why Rosie became a stripper along with her seeing how much strippers made in the documentary “G String Divas”. Rosie’s background info helped us better understand why the way she is & why she joined Samantha in “marketing”, as it explained her difficult upbringing (her parents abandoning her & her brother when they were young, getting in with the wrong crowd, dating bad men, getting into fights, eventually dropping out of school & this claim that her physique got her into trouble as well) & her need to financially provide for herself & later also her child. When describing people she worked alongside, she described their striking features, such as Samantha’s “Cleopatra black” hair. She also described some of her client’s while & after working as a stripper & compared them to being damsels in distress, as they would see these women as opportunities to vent about their lives. Their system of scamming men was working out fine until, in Rosie’s opinion, the girls got greedy as they wanted an easy “$50,000 tree” & not the forest Rosie saw. It’s not until one man with evidence that the girls scammed him were they arrested & charged. Karina, Marsi (two women involved in the scamming system Samantha & Rosie built up) & Samantha plead guilty while Rosie is awaiting trial. But, as stated early on in the article, Rosie is known to lie & after many interviews discussing this series of events with Pressler along with evidence to corroborate with it, she eventually claims that she made all of it up.

Cultural information included in the article are racism/racial discrimination as well as brutality and abuse of power from the law enforcement. The article first retells of an incident in which colored citizens heard and witnessed cops beating young children, to then be beaten themselves for questioning the cops. One man was beaten so badly in the eye it was beyond repair. The article then focuses on the “Harlem Six”. Questions a fieldworker can ask to uncover the culture described by the article can be “Why are the citizens of Harlem treated as they are?”, “Why is there tension between the citizens of Harlem and the law enforcement?”, “How many accounts are there from the citizens of Harlem claiming that a police officer has abused their power?” “Does this only happen in Harlem?” and “what can be done to lessen the treatment colored citizens of Harlem face from law enforcement”. Other sources of information a fieldworker might use to penetrate the insider perspective would be to acknowledge their racial identity as it could affect their research, to visit Harlem them self, to listen to accounts of these incident from the officers and to see if these same officers treat white citizens as they do people of color in and outside of Harlem.