Research Essay:

Cover Letter

Angelina Brown 

English 110 

Phase 3 Cover Letter

Dear Professor Moran, 

The phase three assignment is some of the work I’m most proud of in this course. Having full creative freedom was definitely my favorite part. 

I started off the assignment with a completely different topic which was Intersection in feminism. Intersection in feminism is something that I feel passionate about and was interested in writing about, but I was never set on it. I appreciated you telling me about your previous student who wrote about the same topic and providing me with the essay, but honestly after hearing that someone else had already done it I felt a little too unoriginal. 

I knew that I wanted to stay in the realm of feminism and something somewhat controversial. I looked up a list of feminist discussion questions and the topic of decriminalized prostitution showed up and it ignited a spark. 

Originally, my essay was only about the laws surrounding prostitution, why they’re in place, what possible changes look like. As my research continued, I realized that the problem may not be the laws, but rather the industry itself. I had already written a good four pages, but nothing went to waste, and everything remained relevant. I was stagnant for a little while with this project until I volunteered in class to offer my thesis. I realized then that I wanted to  focus on the industry and the dangers of it, as well as the laws, and which one is causing the danger. 

I was initially afraid to discuss the topic of sex trafficking, because the topic tends to overwhelm me. However, I know myself and I know that writing usually helps me work through things. I was conscious not to go too in debt about human trafficking because I didn’t want the tone of the essay to be angry. I’m happy with the end result and I hope I did an effective job at explaining it without getting too gruesome. 

I know some former and current sex workers which is a complete coincidence. Online and in Media (especially social) I hear a lot of sex workers explaining how much they love their job, and frankly glamorizing it. The sex workers I know in real life have an abundant amount of horror stories and would never encourage anyone to do it. I wanted to bring attention to the reality of the sex work because it is becomeimg more normalized with the rise of online sex work and the shift in attitude of gen z. 

I was conscious not to touch on the morality of sex work and only the dangers. I suppose you could say it’s pretty left leaning. I’m someone who believes that people can do what they want with their own bodies, and I want the law to protect those who make the decision to sell sex. At the same time, the sex industry is truly a horrible place and I really dislike everything about it, and I know that it’s unrealistic for sex workers to ever truly be safe. I remain conflicted about the topic, but I thoroughly enjoyed learning, researching, and sharing my own message about the danger of the sex industry. 

I enjoyed doing this assignment, and I think it was a nice way to close out the writing assignments of the course. I was challenged because I’ve never written about something so controversial, complicated, or so long, but I enjoyed the challenge. Writing this made me see that I definitely have grown and have room to grow as a writer, I thrive most when I have the most creative freedom, and I have so much more to learn. 

Sincerely, 

Angelina Brown