1.Both Readings 4.1 and 4.2 discuss the issue of social class but discuss them in a different way to reveal both comparisons and contrasts. In Reading 4.1, the Gallup article discusses how Americans define their own social class, and it is mentioned that such identification is most  often done based on  subjective  senses and not just on objective determinants such as income or education. In the same way, Reading 4.2, the New Yorker’s subway project, illustrates how income and consequently, social class is highly dependent on where one is, and therefore class must also be relative to one’s surroundings. Both readings expose the great inequalities of American society and illustrate that class can be felt and perceived in relational terms. But they are different in the way they conceptualize and represent social class. The New Yorker article uses objectified median income data mapped across subway lines in New York City, while the Gallup article uses self-definition and national polling figures. One measures perception and identity, the other economic and spatial data.  They together give complementary views of how class operates internally and externally in individuals’ lives.

2.The closest subway station to where I reside in Manhattan’s Fort George community is the 190th Street station on the 1 train, and its median income per household is approximately $39,000. According to the principles outlined in Reading 4.1, this would place my community within the lower-middle to working class. This fits with how the reading explains that social class isn’t based just on income, but also on how people see themselves and their place in society. I’m not really surprised by this classification, since the area is known for being more affordable and has a lot of working families and service workers. Generally speaking, I think that the information provides a fairly realistic picture of the people residing in my environment.

3.Yes, as can be seen from Reading 4.2, there is a pattern to social class in NYC along the subway lines—that is, the closer to Manhattan’s business districts or richer neighborhoods a neighborhood is, the higher the median income will be. The farther out you travel towards the outer boroughs like the Bronx, eastern Brooklyn, or parts of Queens, incomes tend to drop off significantly. This itinerary illustrates how the city’s geography is itself built in terms of inequality, with the riches being extremely concentrated in a few centers and working-class or poverty-stricken areas potentially just a few stops—or in some instances, one stop—away. It shows how deeply stratified by class, even within the course of a short subway ride.