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Since the start of superheroes in comics dating back to the Great Depression and World War II, they have continued to gain popularity through movies and TV shows. People of all ages still watch superhero movies and many younger children wish to meet one. The only downside to this is the fact that these superheroes they see in comics or movies aren’t real. Batman isn’t roaming the streets of Philadelphia trying to find his parents’ killer and Captain America’s frozen body wasn’t found in Atlantic City. In reality, these superheroes’ abilities show what people really want from society. They want someone they can look at as their protector who can jump between rooftops to catch bank robbers. Superheroes reflected America’s fears and gave them a chance to feel invulnerable.

Steve Rogers, also known as Captain America, was written as a student who grew up to become a soldier. He fought Nazi troops and was viewed as a US hero in order to go against Nazi Germany’s propaganda. During the war, Captain America and his sidekick Bucky were a key symbol of hope for people. It seemed like after the war their popularity died down. In an article from Britannica, the writer says, “As the war wound down, the market for patriotic superheroes began to shrink, and Captain America and Bucky were literally put on ice.”  This suggests that people were no longer in need of these superheroes giving them something to look up to and a future they could wish for. These seemingly perfect figures were only popular when people felt in danger and would much rather read about an “ideal” story where someone comes to save them all, rather than trying to deal with what was happening during the war.

These superhero idols weren’t just used for hope during World War II. In an article by The New York Times the author says that superheroes started to reflect political realities when Justice League was questioning President Lex Luthor’s decisions to invade Qurac or Marvel heroes having to register their abilities with the government. The Superhuman registration was viewed as an invasion of privacy by the government since they had to give up their hidden identities. People don’t deal with these same exact issues where they have to give up their superhero identity to the government but invasion of privacy is still relevant to what the government can access through phones. When they see these superheroes dealing with issues that are in the world today it makes them feel like their situation could turn out the same way. The superhero simply saves the day and makes everyone feel safe again. It distracts from the fact that people feel like there is no way they can intervene in the situations people face today and make things better in the same way a superhero is supposed to do. That sense of safety and not having to worry is something that they don’t have so all they can do is look at a false situation and ignore the reality.

Captain America: Civil War came out in 2016 and shows two different superheroes with opposing views on how the country should be run. An article by Vox talks about how the original comic from 2006 was during the time of America’s wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. These disagreements between two superheroes that were friends show the reality of today. Whether it’s decisions over the country or disagreements with friends, people still use the stories as an escape. A point that supports this is shown in an article by The Atlantic where the writer says, “If American culture is indeed in a state of decline, these are the stories built to survive its demise.” The central idea of why the story relates is to provide that alternate ending of what could happen. People often want to forget about the reality and hope that a miracle will just fix everything back into place.  

Although people who aren’t superhero fans might not think that superhero movies or comics matter much, its influence goes beyond entertainment purposes to help people cope with the harsh reality of the world. These happy endings give people hope for their own issues. Things do not always go as planned in the world or exactly how people want them, whether it’s about politics or society, and the writers of these comics create a superhero born into that kind of environment that can overcome anything.

Works Cited

Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., www.britannica.com/topic/Captain-America. Accessed 19 Apr. 2018.

Gustines, George Gene. The Superhero as Society’s Mirror, From World War II to Iraq. The New York Times Company, 14 July 2007, www.nytimes.com/2007/07/14/arts/design/14comi.html. Accessed 19 Apr. 2018.

Abad-Santos, Alex. Marvel’s Civil War and Its Politics, Explained. Vox, 3 May 2016, www.vox.com/2016/5/3/11531348/marvel-civil-war-explained. Accessed 22 Apr. 2018.

Petaccio, Carmen. “How Superhero Stories Reflect American Anxieties.” The Atlantic, 19 Apr. 2018, www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2016/03/twilight-of-the-superheroes/475236/. Accessed 22 Apr. 2018.

Sharron Norton

English 3

Pahomov

23 April 2018

Smoking Kills

Smoking pollutes the air, litters our streets, water, and results in accidental ingestion by small animals and children. Cooperation is needed in order to lessen this impact, and restore the planet to health. The production of cigarettes should decrease by 90% so that with time, the harmful habit could disappear. A significant decrease in the production of tobacco products will lead to the minimization of demand on it as the price will get higher, the supply will decrease and people will not be able to buy it.

Generally, the public is well aware that second-hand smoke is very dangerous. According to the CDC, second-hand smoke contains carcinogens, toxic metals and poisonous gases. While these substances have negative effects on human health, they also affect our environment as well. Second-hand smoke goes into our atmosphere and messes up the world’s air quality. There has  also been reports that a gathering of experiments indicates that levels of respirable suspended particulates (RSPs) decreased by up to 96% in public spaces that banned smoking. This improvement in air quality is not only for the sake of health, but as well as the organisms of the environment. Smoking pollutes the air, but the damage to the environment does not stop there. Thrown away cigarette butts customarily are left in public streets. Cigarettes are the most common  item that contribute to litter. Now, the main problem revolving around the disposal of cigarette butts are the cases when they are accidental eaten by children and animals. Studies have Shown that household pets or other small animals that make the mistake of ingesting cigarette litter may suffer tremors, vomiting, respiratory failure and even death. Just one cigarette butt is dangerous, and a whole cigarette may be lethal if ingested. Although others may not immediately recognize it, cigarettes are toxic waste and need to be disposed of properly.

Cigarette is the deadliest object in the history of human production. Cigarettes kill about 6 million people every year. Tobacco causes human deaths, more than by all deaths from HIV, illegal drug use, alcohol use, and motor vehicle injuries, suicides, and murders combined. Smokers die 14 years earlier than nonsmokers. Tobacco smoking is a leading cause of human cancer and deaths which are higher in developing countries than in developed countries. About 70% of tobacco-related deaths will occur in developing countries. Another factor that tags  along with something is Lung cancer which is an aggressive disease. The lungs are the most important organs that help us breathe and give oxygen to all the cells in the body. These organs are affect both directly and indirectly by cigarette smoking. One in 10 moderate smokers and one in 5 heavy smokers (15 cigarettes per day) will die of lung cancer. About 85% of smokers with lung cancer die within 5.5 years. Many types of cancers including pancreatic cancer and colon cancer, bladder and kidney cancer are caused due to tobacco smoking. Tobacco smoking is also associated with cancer of the oral cavity (including lip and tongue) in both men and women. If government were to restrict the intake people had with tobacco/ cigarettes, then the percentage of deaths and effects of cancer would definitely decrease as well.

Furthermore,  The use of tobacco products is one of the main causes of preventable and premature death and disease the world over. It does not just affect the smokers themselves but the innocent lives of their neighbors and Earth itself. If people in higher places were able to put a stop to production and its passing to people in the country, then there would be a big change. Change in global warming, as well as the welfare of people in this planet. People would be more safe.

Sources:

“Should Smoking Be Banned?” Vaping Daily, vapingdaily.com/quit-smoking/should-smoking-be-banned/.

Begh, Rachna, et al. BMC Medicine, BioMed Central, 2015, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4601132/.

Make Economy Better

Trash is everywhere, no matter where people go. The amount of waste on the streets only increases, day by day, especially in the streets of Philadelphia. As a well known city, Philadelphia gets many visitors everyday. They flock to Philadelphia’s Old City to many other historical places like the Liberty Bell, The Betsy Ross house, and etc. Being able to live anywhere is nice, except when having to deal with the trash no matter where people go. Driving or walking around Philly, it is common to find places filled with trash, or places that are trashed up. These places have a negative impact on the city. If citizens were to own up to their actions and be more environmentally conscious, then Philadelphians would not feel discouraged as they trudge through old wrappers and cigarette butts. Developing a way to stop citizens from littering is the best way to improve the economy.

Walking around in Philly, people will find that there is a lot to observe. One thing people realize is the excessive number of homeless people. Homelessness is one of the reasons as to why trash exists in the city of Philadelphia. The homeless are constantly carelessly throwing away trash on the street. The people who do not have a roof over their heads have nowhere else to place anything besides on the streets, creating more and more trash. Philadelphia also has a 25.7%  of those in poverty, which is the same as ¼ of the population being in poverty. It was stated by Tony Abraham that the city does not have enough resources to provide more shelters. If Philadelphians had more care for the homeless then the city would be avoiding a great amount of trash laying about the streets. This will also be helping the economy and benefiting the homeless because it will create a cleaner space for them to live in. Without the trash that is partially created by them, it will help reduce the amount of trash in the world and provide better for the economy.

The reason why littering negatively impacts the economy is because there are different types of littering, from marine to land littering. Philly has great sites and places to visit and observe, but destroying all that the city has by putting waste into the locations, only makes the economy and living things go bad. The wildlife is highly impacted by the trash and the littering people create. The wildlife assume the trash they come across is safe for them to eat, although it is not. If wildlife is being destroyed, that also means the water people drink would have to go through more to be filtered, possibly resulting in a higher cost for water filtration.The rate at which people throw out food in the United States is alarming and also contributes to overflowing landfills. People do not want to find themselves living within their discards, and that seems to be the fate if people do not become more aware of the environment. If this was avoided, the economy would be more organized and healthier.

Diseases are beginning to spread. Dirt and trash are spreading in the air more frequently. With the trash Philadelphia has, it creates breathing problems for certain people. The dirt and trash are not only causing damage to people, but also animals. There are trash being thrown in rivers and other bodies of water as well. A very known river in Philadelphia, which is ẗhe Schuylkill River, is to be considered a dirty river. Trash can be seen in the river as people walk by it. It affects the water quality and also the air quality. Littering causes pollution, in which an article on a website called Philly mag, talked about pollution. ¨Here in Philadelphia County, the Air Quality Index, a color-coded scale that the EPA helped develop to show days when pollution is higher, shows that we have an average of 34 “orange” high-ozone days a year—meaning Philadelphians endure over a month’s worth of days during which the air is decidedly unhealthy to breathe.¨ This shows the statistics on how polluted the air is for people living in Philadelphia, and how it is unhealthy for people. If littering was reduced, the city of Philadelphia and the citizens would not have as big of an issue with this. Homes and sites would not be destroyed. The economy would be better improved.

Making the economy better is a possible solution to improve the health for residents of Philadelphia, and improving the pollution in the air. This can happen by citizens being able to own up to their actions and be more environmentally conscious. Then, Philadelphians would not feel discouraged as they trudge through old wrappers and cigarette butts.

Works Cited

Ricci, Dana. “Dana Ricci.” Philadelphia Magazine, 25 Apr. 2012, www.phillymag.com/be-well-philly/2012/04/25/tenth-polluted-city/#G7xDR1yQEpwrqrXj.99.

Revermann, Susan. “How Does Littering Affect the Environment?” How Does Littering Affect the Environment? | Education - Seattle PI, 21 Nov. 2017, education.seattlepi.com/littering-affect-environment-6802.html.

Ricci, Dana. “Dana Ricci.” Philadelphia Magazine, 25 Apr. 2012, www.phillymag.com/be-well-philly/2012/04/25/tenth-polluted-city/#G7xDR1yQEpwrqrXj.99.

“Homelessness in Our Community Affects Us All.” United Way Monterey County, 11 Aug. 2015, www.unitedwaymcca.org/homelessness-our-community-affects-us-all.

Abraham, Tony. “7 Things You Should Know about Homelessness in Philly.” Generocity Philly, 13 June 2016, generocity.org/philly/2016/05/24/homelessness-facts-poverty-youth-government/.

Wes Matthews

Ms. Pahomov

English III/Air Stream

4-23-18

                                     Social Media: Perception vs. Reality

In just 15 years, social media has become a dominant channel for human interaction, with an estimated 2.5 billion active users currently. This ever-increasing statistic is reflective of a global society driven by technology and mass communication. With social media, there is general discourse and news dissemination that even the most forward-thinking minds from a century ago probably would not have been able to predict. With all its popularity and usage, it is necessary to ponder the effects that social media has on the individual, and therefore on the rest of society as a whole. Though there are a myriad of these effects to observe, one of the most recognizable is that social media often breeds complex facades that seek to compromise true character for outward appearance.

Humans have always been social creatures, and with very good reason. Social groups give people their sense of purpose, while the cooperation aspects help them maintain conditions necessary to live. For this reason, it is almost natural that people gravitate to social media; the posts, comments, and likes make many people feel validated by other people in the world. This sensation of validation, however, can become quite addictive to the average person, resulting in many social media users actively seeking it out. In fact, according to a study by California State University, receiving a like on Facebook is comparable to the neural sensation one feels after intaking a small amount of cocaine, as it triggers the amygdala, which processes the importance of events and impending rewards. Consequently, it is rather common for users to feel the need to tally a large amount of likes.  Just as cocaine addicts tend to do outrageous things to obtain the drug, social media users oftentimes go to measures far outside of their regular personality in order to get likes and attention, from pulling dangerous stunts to intentionally sparking controversy and anything in between. Actions like these can be dangerous and harmful, but an even deeper subproblem is that this leads to people living much of their lives in a facade realm in which they can develop dishonest traits and attributes of pretense. These changes, no matter how nuanced, could affect the way one is viewed by others, and could even affect self-perception.

Many people use social media to post pictures of themselves or to show off their whereabouts. Not surprisingly, this has led to a generational uptick in narcissism levels. In a cross temporal study by San Diego State University, psychologists found a noticeable increase in mean narcissism levels that coincides with the 21st century rise of social media apps like Facebook and Twitter. Nearly two-thirds of the modern day college students who completed the inventory placed above the average narcissism score of students from 1979-1985. This suggests that social media has indeed affected the way people self-perceive, as there is now a large and accessible outlet to self-promote and aggrandize. In the same way users seek to be validated, people also seek admiration and praise for their live. This rather typical eagerness for compliments can manifest itself in a number of different ways, from posting an excessive amount of selfies to creating fabricated good tidings to announce. Either way, it is evident that the internet elevates people’s consciousness of how they are perceived, which often impels people to make themselves seem like more than what they are.

As is the case with many milestones of innovation, the net pros must be weighed with the net cons in order to arbitrate its actual utility. While social media can be considered a wildly important mainspring of both the social and economic sphere, at its core its main use is for the individual. Therefore, it is just as flawed as humans, as it works almost as a mirror to the insecurities, deep desires, and vanity issues of people in the real-world. It is essential to acknowledge the shortcomings of social media globally so that people are not caught up in a simulacrum universe, but rather focus on the true social world and all its functioning systems, which unlike social media, cannot simply be logged off.

I have been challenged in the past with the task of balancing the clarity of my argument’s points with my sometimes long-winded and wordy style of writing. Ms. Pahomov has brought this to my attention on multiple 2fers, and gradually I have tried to use the revision process as an opportunity to cut words or phrases that add nothing to the direction of my points. This is possibly my best 2fer because it accomplishes that to the fullest extent thus far, as it is probably my shortest 2fer as far as word count but still it has a lot to offer with the points and is directed to a thesis that I still think is thoughtful.

Works Cited

Eror, Aleks. “Social Media Has Created a Generation of Narcissists.” Highsnobiety, Highsnobiety, 12 Sept. 2017, www.highsnobiety.com/2017/03/14/social-media-narcissism/.

Campbell, W. Keith. “Is Social Media Turning People into Narcissists?” The Conversation, 18 Oct. 2016, theconversation.com/is-social-media-turning-people-into-narcissists-66573.

Social media was created to help people interact with each other. Many of the people who use social media see it as a safe space to voice their opinions. Although that is the main reason for social media, different views on life cause a lot of tension on social media when it comes to sensitive topics like racial profiling. While racial profiling has been a problem for hundreds of years, it has recently become more recognized. Even though it is being talked about more via social media, it still has not helped prevent racial profiling. Social media has not prevented racial profiling because it allows people to continue stereotypes and oppress people of color.

Although Twitter is not the most popular form of social media, a lot of tweets happen to go viral on other social networks. Most of the tweets that go viral are outrageous statements from popular or famous people that have sparked outrage among their fanbase. Twitter allows people to speak their feelings which causes more hurt than help. Recently singer Sabrina Claudio caught some backlash from recent racist tweets. One of her tweets said “I’d rather be a pasty white girl than a sweaty chonga.”. Although she did receive some backlash from her insensitive tweets, she was also given some support. With her fanbase being so big, she was destined to influence some of her fans and supporters into believing a stereotype that she once believed and possibly still believed. Her inconsiderate words may have influenced some of her fans and even random people that saw the tweet to believe a stereotype about people of color. These types of actions lead to the much bigger problems in the world including issues of racial profiling and stereotyping.

The sad thing about social media is that it comes up with its own story to tell the world. Whether the story be told by a news channel or by a random user, they portray the story they want to portray it. This is what happened with Trayvon Martin. After being followed through a development, he was shot and killed by a man. According to Journalism.org, “On blogs, the racial element of the story was the top theme in the conversation, given Martin’s race and questions that have arisen about the racial attitudes of Zimmerman, a Hispanic man.” The ongoing stereotype surrounding people of color moved to the internet after this situation. Despite the fact that an obviously innocent child had been murdered, the internet still decided to make the killer, innocent. The media especially painted the victim in a disturbing and demonized way. This did not help the victim and the media’s influence resulted in the murderer not being convicted of first degree murder.

Social media has not helped racial profiling of anyone. Instead it has caused for people to repeat and make fun of stereotypes on the internet. By doing so, social media has harmed the outcome of racial profiling by not allowing the guilty party to be charged with the crime. Because the guilty party is never charged with the crime, they always get away with it and situations like these continue to happen to people of color. Social media has not prevented racial profiling because it allows people to continue stereotypes and oppress people of color.

Works Cited

Hitlin, Paul. On Social Media A Conversation About Race. Journalism.org. 2012. Web.

Way, Katie. Angry Fans Are Comparing Sabrina Claudio to Camila Cabello, Selena Gomez because of her racist online past. Babe.net. 2018. Web

Zaire Williams

Air Stream

English 3

April 18, 2018

Thesis Question: Why shouldn’t NCAA college athletes be paid?

NCAA colleges being paid

 There are many reasons why people think NCAA college athletes should be paid for the amount of time their spending practicing for games, playing each week and attending classes, leaving them no time for a job. But, paying college athletes would change the concept of college sports and the reasons why they are there for the students. College sport is a big part of making money for the schools and providing scholarships for each of the athletes. If this was to happen there would not be fair payments, money privileges for athletes are a distraction of their true potential which is athletic talent.  

First and foremost, The NCAA is a non-profit organization. According to NCAA.org, this organization helps organizes the athletic programs of 1,281 universities and colleges all throughout the United States and Canada. There are billions of dollars that are made, coming from ticket sales and marketing rights. This money does not go to waste but instead is distributed in more than a dozen of ways that support mainly NCAA schools, consultations, and most important the student-athletes. Most of this money is distributed through Sports sponsorships, Scholarship funds, Division 1 basketball performances fund, and Division 1 championships. According to the “NCAA.org” resources page, in their Finances, it states, “As a non-profit organization, we put our money where our mission is: equipping student-athletes to succeed on the playing field, in the classroom, and throughout life. The NCAA and our member colleges and universities together award $3.3 billion in athletic scholarships every year to more than 150,00 student-athletes.” To be a non-profit organization, NCAA provides so much for these athletes to succeed and are supported on their journey to greater purposes.

Furthermore, playing a college sport is more of a privilege, Many people have dreamed of the opportunity to play for a college team but never achieved that goal. For example, “NCAA.org” states that “only 3% of high school senior basketball players will play NCAA sponsored basketball.” What that says for the other 7% is that they don’t get to play the sport they been working so hard in high school for, they have to go with their second choice and focus on getting a job or heading for a different career. While the 3% is playing hard for that victory title and working towards that level as a professional athlete. When these students are professional athletes that when they could be getting paid as much they skills are worth. College athletes should only feel the pride of the recognition they’re getting from all of their fans and continue to work hard for their next exciting game.

   In conclusion, College NCAA athletes are already getting the money they deserve through the many different ways it distributed for the NCAA organization to help these students succeed their dreams and become professionals athletes. It is not NCAA job to provide these athletes money but to make an easier pathway for them to achieve this opportunity. In other words, College is the time for them show their true talent and enjoy the game.

Deja Winfield

April 17th, 2018

English 3

Ms. Pahomov

Does this Year’s Prom Really Matter?

Prom season is here! It’s on everyone’s mind. Juniors and seniors alike are questioning who they should take? What should they wear?  What type of corsage do they purchase? Who will be prom king and queen? Will they look beautiful or handsome? Prom is a great time to answer all these questions and more, but as a large high school event prom, it is overhyped, cruel, and overpriced. High schools should be limited to only a senior prom because it cuts down on the number of disappointed students.

Senior prom is looked as the last big memory in high school. It is when they see the last few grains of sand in the top of the hourglass of childhood. In comparison, junior prom is placed in one of the busiest school years in the academic career.  Junior prom is used as a stepping stone to popularity in high school isolating the dateless and giving status to the couples at prom. Junior prom is a preview of senior prom. In previews you never see the full story, you get to experience a small part of the real deal. Looking from the experience of Julia Murray (BHS), a now high school senior and experienced blogger, who attended her junior prom last year and did not have a great experience. While also not having a bad one this is what she had to say “The lesson here … although prom feels like a big deal, it isn’t. Prom is what you make of it. It might not be what you expected, but as long as you… And girls, you don’t need to spend all your money on a dress, there are much more important things than a dance.” She experienced spending thousands on everything, she “needed” for prom. And not going home happy. She didn’t get the experience of laying in bed and thinking about how amazing the night had been but thinking of all the other things she could have experienced with the money and time that she had spent. Knowing this would be repeated next year with a larger more expensive dress, she wasn’t satisfied, deciding that attending her senior prom would not matter. But for many, this is not the case. They decide that junior prom is the one that does not matter and attend senior prom to experience the night with friends. More students overall go to their senior prom in comparison to a student who goes to their junior prom. Like Murray, students who decided to go to junior prom have a chance of being disappointed twice. But at least she wasn’t ridiculed and mocked for the dress she wore like many are.

High school is a time of changing the body and changing appearances. The way your body changes can ruin your high school experience due to the mockery of young adults who are changing and developing as well. Prom is the time for many to show of their changing body with a suit or a beautiful dress. The way they look will always bring up their confidence initially. Until the comments unfold. Tayja Jones thought she looked beautiful in her junior prom dress (and she did). But as she opened her mobile phone to look at social media and the pictures from last night. She had seen she had gone viral. In the span of a few hours, her picture crossed the screen of hundreds of thousands of people making cruel commentary on her body and the way she should look at seventeen years of age. She even spoke out on how she felt saying “ It was just really hurtful because I was so confident the day before”. All of her confidence was dropped until she felt hallowed. And even the enjoyment of the last night didn’t make up for the abuse she had to endure. She deserved to feel the after joy of prom. She deserved to continue to love herself without question.

Prom is considered a right of passage for so many people. For some prom tells them that they are almost done with their high school career, as well as almost finished with their childhood. But for some prom is a night of horrid people locked in a room together for hours. It is the anticlimax of their high school career. Being forced to pay hundreds to even thousands of dollars for a night of ridicule and disappointment is what they expect.  And for those who decide to attend their junior prom haven the chance to allow this to be their prom experience twice. To cut the number of children who are disappointed with their prom experience we should only allow high school have a senior prom.

Work Cited

Murray, Julia. “My Junior Prom Experience.” The Roar, 15 June 2017, bhstheroar.org/6733/opinion/my-junior-prom-experience/.

Jideonwo, Peter. “Tayja Jones Prom.” BlackDoctor, BlackDoctor.org, 3 May 2016, blackdoctor.org/488232/weseeyou-teens-message-after-being-bullied-for-her-viral-prom-photo-i-will-continue-to-be-the-voice-for-those-who-cant-speak-up/13151404_1723399244598664_6492225213850044604_n/.

This essay is my best two fer essay because I looked for deeper sources that spoke on a event that was current for us as students. We are preparing for prom in this upcoming week and it tends to be the thing on all of our minds. And we all know the struggle of the stress and hearing the nightmares of prom past. I spent a lot of time on this two fer as well, and spent a hour editing my grammar and word structure.

A. Negative space is the space that is around an object in an image. It helps define the borders of positive space, and brings balance to parts and elements of an image.

B. I found negative space in my cutout by searching for the area that is a boundary to the positive space, and it was the inverse of the positive space.

• It helps an artist to see in negative space so that they can see both sides of an image, and use the negative space as a tool for their artwork. 
  

C. Seeing in negative space enhances drawing because the negative space makes the image pop out to the viewer, and can help those viewers see a different aspect of that piece of art.

The Boston Red Sox are a professional baseball team. They are part of the Major League Baseball were the best baseball players in the world. The Boston Red Sox’s started the 2018 season with one of the best records. Why did the Red Sox have the best start in franchise history in 2018? The Red Sox’s had an easy schedule the red sox’s are having a great start because of the new manager that was hired.

The Boston Red Sox have the best record in the MLB (Major League Baseball). Their record is 17 and 3, 17 wins and three losses. The record is the best start in the franchise history. The Red Sox are a pretty old organization over 118 years old. This can be due to their offensive powerhouse. The team batting average is 0.283, which is very high for a team. The batting average is a ratio of the teams’ hits, so this means that.  There is a quote from a Red Sox player. “We're dangerous," said by Andrew Benintendi, who is a Red Sox player. Benintendi believes their offense power is dangerous and that they can do a lot of damage. The Red Sox's is the leading the league in Grand slams. The offense power is one of the reasons why the Red Sox’s had a historic start.

   The Red Sox played the first nine games against teams from Florida. They were playing the same teams over and over again. The two teams the Red Sox played in their first games were weak teams. The teams are both in the last place in their respective divisions. The Tampa Rays are 5 and 13, and the Miami Marlins are 5 and 12. The teams are weaker than the Red Sox, and for the first nine games, the Red Sox players were winning easily considering how good the teams are performing.

    The Red Sox’s have had strong pitching from their pitchers. The Red Sox have Chris Sale, who leads the league in strikeouts last season with 308. The Red Sox’s also have David Price, who is healthy this year. Last Year David Price Only made 12 starts due to a hurt elbow. The Red Sox also has another ace, Rick Porcello. All the pitchers have eras under 2. An era is static that used calculate earned runs.

    The Red Sox hired Alex Cora at the beginning of the season, Alex Cora is replacing John Farrell. Farrell was the manager for a couple of years and won the world series in 2013, but since the win in 2013 the Red Sox’s have not won, and they have not been winning in the playoffs. After almost getting swept by the Astros, the management decided to hire Cora. The beginning of the season is still happening, and playoffs are far away but so far the Red sox’s look like contenders to win a world series. Alex Cora is the right fit for the Red Sox’s because the Red Sox’s are playing way better. The manager of the team can affect how the players play if the players like the manager they will perform better if the player hates the manger there can be bad tension, and that loses games because there will be a lot of arguing. Alex Cora has pushed all the right buttons, and so far the hiring of Alex Cora was a good choice because he is one of the reasons why the Red Sox’s are winning.     

    The Red Sox’s have had a very impressive start, they are smashing records but for those who don’t know the fantastic start is due to the hiring of the new coach Alex Cora. The easy schedule that the sox’s had. The impressive offensive powerhouse. Then getting all there pitchers back and healthy. These all the reasons why the Red sox’s Have had a record start.

Work Cited:

Powtak, Ken. “Red Sox off to Best Start in 118-Year History; Beat O's 10-3.” ABC News, ABC News Network, 14 Apr. 2018, abcnews.go.com/Sports/wireStory/red-sox-off-best-start-118-year-history-54472975.

“Red Sox 2018 Rotation among Strongest in AL.” MLB.com, www.mlb.com/redsox/news/red-sox-2018-rotation-among-strongest-in-al/c-264411514.

ESPN, ESPN Internet Ventures, www.espn.com/mlb/team/stats/pitching/_/name/bos/boston-red-sox.

Avi Cantor

English 11

Ms. Pahomov

23 April 2018

Are Hip-Hop Producers Undervalued?

Producers in the Hip-Hop/Rap genre are the architects of the sounds that are heard in rap today. These musicians work behind the scenes to create a melody for the music that paints a picture of what the artist is talking about. Without a strong or fitting instrumental, the message of a given song deteriorates, ultimately becoming obsolete. But do rap fans even know who producers are and what they do? Due to the fact that these unsung heroes aren’t vocally at the forefront of a given song, many people don’t even know who producers are or what makes them such an integral part of the genre. The lack of credit given to rap producers causes the rap industry to put artists before producers when it comes to notoriety. This message limits fans ability to truly understand the music they’re listening to and allows record labels to take advantage of producers financially.

In April of 2018, a survey was conducted in Ms. Pahomov’s 11th grade English class with avid rap fans that focused on the recognition of producer “tags” and if the given student knew what the job of a producer was. Of the ten students who participated in the survey, six knew what a producer was and could describe at least partially what the job of a producer was. Of 40 producer tags,--all of which were/are big-name producers like Metro Boomin, DJ Khaled, and RONNY J--the average amount that a given student recognized was 19.5. Further, all ten participants new at least one of each of the 40 producers collaborators. This lack of knowledge pertaining to the very people who are making the hit songs that have stormed the nation is flat out wrong. These statistics show how uneducated and unexposed the teenage fans of rap music are to the people who are building the foundations to their favorite songs. This lack of knowledge creeps into the minds of the management of record labels, making it easier to take advantage of these producers.

This past year, TM88, a member of the production powerhouse 808 Mafia, tweeted that he hadn’t been paid by Atlantic Records for his work on rapper Lil Uzi Vert’s breakout hit “XO TOUR Llif3”, despite the report that the song had raked in approximately $4.5 million for the label. However, TM88 is far from the only producer to speak out on shady business deals and lack of payment. Producers like E. Dan, DJ Burn One, and Illmind, among others have spoken out about missing payment from labels and rappers alike. These shady payment deals result in the producers getting paid much less than the artists that they work with. One example of this phenomenon is Atlanta producer and architect of the “trap music” sound Mike Will Made-It.

Despite a successful and lengthy career spanning well over a decade, the producer’s net worth is estimated to be $10 Million, according to celebritynetworth.com. This may seem like a lot of money, but compared to the artists he’s worked with, this number is meager at best. Over ten of his collaborators have net worths that surpass his despite similar career lengths and accolades. The music industry’s inability to recognize its producers allows those producers to get paid much less than their vocal counterparts.

If rap fans were to realize how little they understand about the music they’re listening to, they’d realize that they’re actively limiting themselves from finding music that they like. Producers that have one hit song may have several others and may have relationships with some of the most popular artists in the world. For example, “trap music” producer Zaytoven has worked with everyone from Lil Pump to A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie to Wiz Khalifa. If someone who’s a fan of Lil Pump decides to look at who Zaytoven has collaborated with and finds that they like other music he’s made, they’ve just opened themselves up to a whole new path for discovering music. By shutting out the idea that producers are an integral part of Hip-Hop, fans are shutting out a possibility to access music that they’d like.

This is my best 2Fer because I try to be as precise with my evidence as possible. I've struggled with this before and I think that I was effectively concise in this essay.

Works Cited:

Cantor, Avi M. “Interview Data.” Google, Google, 17 Apr. 2018, docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1A_uA0C1wHT37vBSujYU80-dtSaXnKJ5Cs_ogrq8kJo4/edit#gid=0.

“Rae Sremmurd.” Celebrity Net Worth, www.celebritynetworth.com/dl/rae-sremmurd/.

Justin Stewart

Ms. Pahomov

English 3

18 April 2018

                                    Technology: The world’s ruler

Technology has been around since the late 1950s. It can be things such as Computers, Tablets, or smartphones. Technology is something that everyone uses everyday. It basically runs today’s society. People use Technology for their job, school, or just for their entertainment. It’s been known as the world’s venom to not just adults, but to teenagers as well. Technology can have a negative effect on a person’s life.

Social media is a possible reason why Technology can have a negative effect on a person’s life, Specifically a teenagers. Teens are the main group of people that use social media. People  usually download social media apps on their smartphones such as Instagram, Snapchat, and Twitter. Parents believe that social media is toxic to their child’s brain. People think that social media can affect their child’s development into adulthood. Technology can affect the child’s education due to lack of sleep. Technology is what encourages a teen to stay awake for a long time. This causes them to be tired during school and keeps them from performing to the best of their abilities.

Social media is not just physically harmful but mentally harmful as well. Cyberbullying is a major issue that affects people mentally. Cyberbullying is bullying but it is done through Technology. Cyberbullying can happen to anyone, but when people think of the word Cyberbullying, people automatically assume that it means a teen is getting bullied online. But it can happen to adults too. Some examples of Cyberbullying is someone posting something embarrassing about another person like a video of that person being physically bullied or someone posting personal information on social media without the person’s consent. Bullies tend to do this to ruin someone’s social life and real world life. Unfortunately, this can lead to depression and can ultimately lead to suicide. Suicide is a big issue among teens in the United states. According to the Megan Meier Foundation, Approximately 34% of the students report experiencing cyberbullying during their lifetime and About 15% of the students admitted to cyberbullying another student in their lifetime.

Social media can cause lack of privacy. This makes Social media a little too Social. An example of a social media app that can become a lack of privacy is Facebook. Facebook is the most open social media app. This means that anyone can go on a person’s Facebook page without them even knowing. The person can also message the person by texting them through the direct message feature called Facebook messenger. Unlike Instagram and Snapchat, Facebook doesn’t have the feature to prevent someone from going onto the person’s page without the person’s consent.

When People stop and think about it, they realize that social media can have a negative effect on a person’s life both Physically and mentally. Social media can be an unsafe place to share your information. Some people share their location on Social media which can be very dangerous.

Kimberly Gucciardi-Kriegh

4-23-18

Changes in schools are typically seen or assumed to be an improvement, but that is not true in most cases. Change is typically involves the school district and state. But, in some ways, keeping the schools the same hurts even more than the changes do. Underfunding schools is not only detrimental because it can negatively impact the curriculum but it can cause them not to change at all, which can be worse.

One of the biggest and most known problems in schools is when schools arts programs are cut, such as, drama, art, and band. In a study conducted by Americans for the Arts, “Students who take four years of arts and music classes average almost 100 points higher on their SAT scores than students who take only one-half year or less.” Keeping creative classes in schools not only improves students time in high school or middle school, it sets them up for success getting into college and getting a job. Continuing these classes not only give students a place to escape from stress and personal problems and helps them discover their passions, but gives them more opportunities for career success. This confirms that changing the curriculum can seriously hurt the students academically.

Meanwhile, the opposite can be said, that not changing the curriculum can hurt students much more. Textbooks hurt students due to the outdated information and giving students no real life skills, they are just memorizing or reading facts. In the state of Nevada, the school district spent 3.8 million dollars to get the schools new textbooks during the 2018 and 2019 school year. This is a school that recognizes teaching children outdated information that is incorrect and no longer relevant hurts students more than it helps them. This shows a way that updating the curriculum can benefit students.

Another way that updating the curriculum helps students is providing them with better classes. In 2005, The School District of Philadelphia made a graduation requirement that all students need to take African American History class. This happened because in 1967 over 40,000 students walked out of school to advocate for this class. The inclusion of this class changed students lives by providing the necessary and crucial learning of the history of an unrepresented group. Without this change in ciciculum, most students in the city would not have learned about these amazing people.

Even though students, teachers, and staff look at change in schools to be typically bad, which it can be, it can also be good. Underfunding schools creates a significant change in curriculum for the worst, but, this can mean it staying the same, which hurts students too.

This was my best possible 2Fer because I reflected upon all the things I wrote in my reflective essay. I tried my best to stay focus and connected to my thesis. Something new I tried was to format my thesis differently and make it so I was able to show two sides of one story.

Sources-

“10 Arts Education Fast Facts.” Americans for the Arts, 6 Nov. 2013, 11:00AM, www.americansforthearts.org/by-topic/arts-education/10-arts-education-fast-facts.

Toliver, Rachel. “‘What Are the Children Who Grow Up to Become Police Officers Learning in School?".” The New Republic, 28 Sept. 2014, newrepublic.com/article/119593/surprising-lessons-philadelphias-african-american-history-course.

Gross, Sam. “WCSD Approves $3.8 Million to Replace Outdated Language, Math Textbooks.” Reno Gazette Journal, Reno Gazette-Journal, 31 Jan. 2018, 7:09PM, www.rgj.com/story/news/education/2018/01/30/wcsd-approves-3-8-million-replace-outdated-language-math-textbooks/1081301001/.

Equal rights for women have been changing for over decades. These laws are there to protect the rights of men and women. In the early 1900s, women were given small opportunities aside to feel equal to men. Men have more opportunities than women because they seem more superior. Then again, women are more beneficial to these laws because it supports the many women who don’t have rights which makes these women oppressed. By doing this, it takes away from a woman’s quality and perseverance. Despite having the same legal rights as men, women are still disadvantaged in comparison. The disadvantages included, gender price discrimination, psychological discrimination and many more that are equally unjust.  

The cost of female sanitary items and female undergarments has been a very controversial topic. This included the many harms of gender taxing against women of all ages. The Pink Tax is extra money that women have to pay towards their hygiene products and sanitary items. According to an article from Yahoo Finance, a Consumer Report included “women’s products cost more to manufacture, used different formulations or were assigned higher prices by retailers”. That doesn’t give retailing companies the right to make female product cost more because the manufacturing rate, it just makes them targeter trying to get extra money in their pockets. Some products that have the same manufacture and production process, are found from retailing companies for both men and women. Degree deodorant at Walmart was $3.88 for women, $2.47 for men. Deodorant which is  a requirement for healthy hygiene is used by everyone and cost more for females because of the packaging, for it to look more appealing to women to buy. Walgreens has a 3-pack of Gillette razors at $11.99 for women and $10.99 for men. Once again razors, something that everyone uses cost more for women but serves the same purposes as it does for men.Women get paid less than men and are still at harm to afford female necessities.

From a psychological view, Male dominance in environments like workforce are a improper maldistribution of power compared to women. This act of male dominance indicates sexual harassment not as a sexual act but males taking control. These men have the upper hand and persuade women with promotions and raises because they have access. As reported by psychologist John Pryor on psychology today, “factors that make men likely to harass women in the workplaces, are desires to dominate women and endorsement of stereotypic views of male sex-role norms”. Men in the workplace are naturally competitive due to high levels of testosterone and become power hungry. Men are stereotypically enhanced to be powerful which takes away from men being humble. Then women have to work twice as hard, because men are competing to be what’s best. Men are less empathetic over what a woman fights to get which gets in the way of what they desire, to be on top.

Writer Joseph Conrad once said “Being a woman is terribly difficult task, since it consists principally in dealing with men.” Men have always had the upper hand since the begging of time which makes them already at the top. Women, who have been given little opportunities and some rights, have to be above these stereotypes. This creates a space where gender discrimination is revealed and how men are mentally involved when given access to power. Women, who are less powerful, will most likely be acknowledge if involves a man’ satisfaction. Women should take a stand to equity, because their valves are as important as men who are at the top.

This may be my best possible 2fer because I completed this more individually. I usually get more support from my teachers and peers that help with the process of completing my essay, but I worked by myself. I put more effort into my work knowing that my previous 2fers had mistakes that I made commonly.  Now that I have knowledge based on the guidance that I received from my previous 2fers, I know now that what I need to put my best work forward is challenging myself more to work on my own.

Sources:

“Gender-Based Pricing: Why It Costs More to Be a Woman.” Yahoo! Finance, Yahoo!, 12 Jan. 2015, finance.yahoo.com/news/the-extra-cost-of-being-a-woman-214445601.html.  

“....Because It Costs More to Be a Woman.” The Pink Tax - Gender Price Discrimination, pink.tax/.

Lowen, Linda. “Why Powerful Men Sexually Harass Women.” ThoughtCo,

Limited Edition Ideas

Exclusive deals have been a business technique since the beginning of material production. The idea of having something of in limited print or items that are only available for a limited time has drawn collectors and people who want to stand out. When a limited edition or a rare item from a person’s favorite brand more people are who are in favor of that brand are more likely to buy something that is limited edition than buying something they can normally obtain. Buying limited edition items is a good marketing campaign when businesses have a lot to offer.

Not only business are liable for using this technique though in 2015 the famed Wu tang clan released a secret album called “Once Upon A Time In Shaolin”. Rapper RZA said in a interview with Forbes magazine “We’re about to sell an album like nobody else sold it before,” he called it an exclusive collectors item that RZA said in a tweet “"We’re making a single-sale collector’s item. This is like somebody having the scepter of an Egyptian king.”. The winning bid for the album went for 2 million dollars, although it came out successful, Wu tang rapper Cilvaringz was worried and called this a gamble that could totally flop if not done correctly. Around 343 people bidded to have the one and only Wu tang album.

On January 18th 2018 famed rapper Tyler the Creator announced his collaboration with the company converse to make limited edition shoes in a tweet that solely said "GOLF le FLEUR jan 18” The likes of that tweet ended up being in 97.8k and the retweets were 17,684. The shoes went for $100 but had a resale value of $200. This drew in many people who were attracted to the shoe brand and also the rapper. They were sold on Tyler the Creators website Golf and were sold out in less than 20 minutes.  The reason why his shoes sold out so quickly was because the amount of clout Tyler had and also because they were named limited edition so once they were sold out there was no way to know if they were going to sell them again. The profit Tyler and converse made from this collaboration was one of the most popular vans bought in the company's history.

Back in 2013 Stone throw records had a 10th anniversary special vinyl for one of history's best beat maker/music sampler. They had a limited edition vinyl based on the original drawing of J Dilla's idea for the album cover. When the album donuts originally came out on his birthday February 7th 2006. The 10th anniversary came out in 2013 remembering his death on February 17th which was  and celebrating his album 10th anniversary. Back in 2013 the album was almost immediately sold out by J Dilla fans who bought the vinyl. Die hard fans have said this is a “must have” for all J Dilla fans. Stone Throw Records said that “The album is ten years old now. Many new people have discovered the album and the work of our favorite producer along the way. Some still ask for the drawing cover, and we're happy to oblige.” From this quote the reader can gather than the history and legacy of J Dilla is being used as a memory for his fans but also is being used to make money off a limited edition vinyl record which in the long run makes more money.

From music, clothes, and vinyls there are many different limited edition items that usually make a spike in sales. With businesses coming up with this practice and using it to make money has been commonplace in the business world. Stores such as Supreme have limited edition items each week making there resale value very high and it attracts a very young clinetell to buy there items. In the end the limited edition items usually can greatly influence people to buy the producers things, it also can make is so that the person who does buy those items have the ability to resell the limited edition items because of the rarity.

Works Cited

Greenburg, Zack O'Malley. “Why Wu-Tang Will Release Just One Copy Of Its Secret Album.” Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 10 Nov. 2014, www.forbes.com/sites/zackomalleygreenburg/2014/03/26/why-wu-tang-will-release-just-one-copy-of-its-secret-album/.

Jones, Riley. “Tyler, the Creator Is Releasing Three Limited-Edition Converse Shoes This Month.” Footwear News, Footwear News, 4 Jan. 2018, footwearnews.com/2018/focus/athletic-outdoor/tyler-the-creator-new-limited-edition-converse-golf-le-fleur-shoes-474624/.

“J Dilla - Donuts, 10th Anniversary Vinyl | Stones Throw Records.” Stones Throw, www.stonesthrow.com/news/2016/02/dilla-donuts-10th-anniversary-vinyl.

“Why Your Business Needs a Limited Edition Strategy.” Luth Research, 30 Nov. 2016, luthresearch.com/business-needs-limited-edition-strategy/.