The Inquiry essay presented various ideas, evidence, and statistics about the evolution of New York City from novels, articles, and websites, then interpreted into my own writing exploring and discovering my curiosities and questions. For this research paper, the goal was to discover the evolution of  New York City throughout the 19th and 21st century. For this assignment, I wanted to focus my research paper on the evolution of New York City, from the emergence of its towering skyline to the spreading bounds of suburban sprawl. Before I writing my research question, I wanted my topic to revolve around the idea of the city’s evolution, its geography, architecture, as well as its physical and social dynamics. Furthermore, I also wanted to integrate the advancements and development to broader political, financial, sociological, and cultural developments in the early 20th century. From all these different ideas, my research question came to be. My research question is:  In what ways has architecture, physical and social dynamics, and economic challenges influence New York City’s evolution from the 19th to the 21st century?

The goal for the research paper was to formulate a research question that addresses some aspect of the modern city. If I wanted I could’ve identified a problem and seek a means to improve it. If I had any curiosities or doubts about some aspect of metropolitan life, I could have also incorporated these ideas in my piece. The idea of this assignment is not to decide on a position and argue it, or to persuade the reader, but instead follow my own inquiring mind, and discover new ideas, questions, and possibilities along the way. This essay needed to critically engage, and build on, the course readings and I also needed to introduce additional outside texts from my own research. 

Link for the Inquiry Essay: The Modern Metropolis(Google Doc) : https://docs.google.com/document/d/16s8-LEcxAKqdxokFn6pz8FmtWPUckaG51COmgTn0jWk/edit