Prompts

Week 1

I am a male. I am a son. I am an American. I am Italian. I am Irish. I am a pro wrestling fan. I am a football fan. I am a gamer. I am an artist. I am creative. I am white. I am from a small family. I am a brother. I am 19. I am Batman. I am a procrastinator. I am a Miami Dolphins fan. I am a Phillies fan. I am tall. I am a student. I am motivated. I am funny. I am a Breaking Bad fan. I am a god.

True: I am a male. I am a son. I am an American. I am Italian. I am Irish. I am a pro wrestling fan. I am a football fan. I am a gamer. I am an artist. I am creative. I am white. I am from a small family. I am a brother. I am 19. I am a procrastinator. I am a Miami Dolphins fan. I am a Phillies fan. I am a student. I am motivated. I am funny. I am a Breaking Bad fan.

False: I am Batman. I am tall. I am a god.

Given: I am a male. I am a son. I am an American. I am Italian. I am Irish. I am white. I am from a small family. I am a brother. I am 19.

Chosen: I am a pro wrestling fan. I am a football fan. I am a gamer. I am an artist. I am creative. I am a procrastinator. I am a Miami Dolphins fan. I am a Phillies fan. I am a student. I am motivated. I am funny. I am a Breaking Bad fan.

What is an artist? Is there a finite group of artists in the world?  What do I know about artists? How does one become an artist?  Is it possible to stop being an artist?  What does it mean to be a good artist?  A bad artist? A lazy artist?  A dutiful artist?  Do artists bond with one another?  What other types of artists are there? Is it an identity one has pride in?  Is it an identity at all? Do different cultures think of artists differently?  Etc.

I think an artist is anyone who creates something, regardless of whatever it actually is. It can be anything from a drawing, to a dance, to a poem, to a house. One becomes an artist by just letting their imagination take them wherever it wants to get, they just have to express themselves. The only way to stop being an artist is to stop creating. Only you can decide if you’re a good or bad artist. If you try your hardest and do your best, who can really say you’re a bad artist? I do have pride in being an artist as it allows me to express my creativity in a multitude of ways.

Week 2

The summer before my senior year of high school and a few months into it, I had a job working at a local grocery store. I started out where pretty much everyone else did, sweeping the store, cleaning the bathrooms, etc. It sucked, but I was told it would only be for a few weeks until I was promoted to stock. After those weeks passed, I was promoted, but was back to sweeping and cleaning in a matter of days, along with having full time hours while working part time. It just seemed like my boss didn't have any respect for me. School was enough stress, and with that and homework plus the 40 hours a week at work, I had no time to relax and unwind. I was making money, but I was miserable. It started to take a toll on me so I had some talks with my parents about quitting. They told me to talk to my boss about just cutting down on my hours, so I did. It was fine for one week, but the next, it was back to the 40 hours again. I called an audible when I saw my schedule and put in my two weeks. When I told my parents, they obviously weren't pleased that I went against them and just quit instead of giving it some more time, but it was something I believed I had to do.

Week 3

I am going to write about gender stereotypes in younger, elementary school children, and because of this, I don't think I will be able to have a typical interview. My plan is to give the kid a choice between a few gender stereotyped items, like a Barbie versus a superhero action figure, and things in a similar vein such as movies and games, then ask why they chose one or the other. I guess it could be considered more of an experiment than an interview, but I feel it is the best way to approach this topic. I may ask a few questions besides why they chose a certain thing such as if they feel pressured to like certain things or do they get picked on in school for liking something that their gender doesn't normally like.

Week 4

The cultural topic I chose to write about is gender stereotypes in grade school-aged children. My goal was to figure out if gender stereotypes have been instilled in us since childhood or if they are something that have developed as we have gotten older. There are many different factors that can affect these gender stereotypes such as the region you grew up in, who you were friends with, and who your parents and family members are. I believe that the people around you can have an extremely strong influence on what gender stereotypes affect you.