English 3 · Pahomov · A Band Public Feed

Create a Post

Taming the Clueless Shrew

Posted by Dayanna Hughes in English 3 · Pahomov · A Band on


Taming the Clueless Shrew


In the Shakespeare play “Taming of the Shrew,” the characters are striking. With plots and ulterior motives the book never gets old. In the book you constantly see themes of class in works. The class of the characters in the book, basically shape the characters plots and schemes that we read. The main characters I will be talking about will be petruchio and Katherine, at times surfacing other characters.  I will be comparing the book to the movie “Clueless.” In this movie the main character Cher goes through great lengths to get her way, and even changes the people and the world around her as she sees it. She is apart of the the upper class and it is obvious in the movie, with her fancy cars and clothes. Cher is always at the top, because of the power she “thinks” she holds. She plays matchmaker in the movie with her teachers in order to get the grade she wants. Through this she tricks and plots on ways to get them together. She also plays fairy godmother, and when you think of the character of a fairy godmother, you think of someone who in a way bestows gifts or happiness to people. Later on in the movie, Cher and her friends accept the new girl in town only if she conforms to their looks and lifestyle. The new girl, Tai is the complete opposite of Cher and her friends, but somehow finds herself suffocated in their world. The theme of social class and power, shape the characters in the book in movie. The power they feel that they hold makes them think that have control over the people around them. Cher and Petruchio show similarities in their motives of getting what they want, no matter what.



“I come to wive it wealthily in padua; If wealthily, then happily in Padula.” (Act 1.Scene 2, 75-77)



In this quote, the men are basically talking about having wife. Obviously her wealth plays a big role in their look for one. They could have went courting for any woman they wanted. But, instead it seems as though they specifically was looking for a woman of stature and wealth. In the sentence following, they continue on with their conversation. “Why nothing comes amiss, so money comes withal.” Withal basically means to take into with further consideration. The woman he chooses to wed could be an old woman, an attractive woman, or a “puppet.” As long as she is wealthy. He is very blunt with what he says as well. Not caring about how anybody thinks. Through this you see his materialism and how arrogant he is. He is driven to get what he wants. At this point in the play, he knows nothing about Katherine and her sister. He has no care for the actual meaning of love, but he cares about status and riches. Through this marriage he is going to elevate the status he holds into something bigger and greater.  




In these two screenshots, Cher is basically explaining the plot she has to change Tai’s appearance. Specifically in the second picture she is talking about the group of people that Tai is glancing over at. They are at lunch, and the “stoners” or “airheads” happen to be nice and catch her attention. There is even a boy, that is obvious in the movie that has a crush on her. To put it out there for those who have not seen the movie, Tai is new. Cher and her best friend are explaining that there are levels or a status that is in place at the high school. With them being at the top, she shouldn’t stoop down to the level of the guy who is below them. Further into this scene it was mentioned if she were to date him or hang out with the group to expand friends they wouldn’t dare talk to her. This is similar to the quote in “Taming of the Shrew” because, they are only wanting the wife of a higher social class. From the context of the scene and overall book, even if they were to find a woman they do actually love. Her status would be accounted for. Even if she weren’t as rich as katherine and her family, she’d need to have some sort of wealth. Going back to the gift of “popularity and stature,” Cher thinks of this as her giving back to people or that what she is doing is good. Mainly because that's all that she has. She puts her wealth, and popularity on so high of a platform because without that she would have nothing. I don’t know why Petruchio does want wealth so bad, but it has to be similar to the ideal of Cher, without wealth they'd feel like they were nothing and like they didn’t have nothing.




“Thus in plain terms: your father hath consented
That you shall be my wife, your dowry ‘greed on,
And will you, nill you, I will marry you.
Now Kate, I am a husband for your turn…”


(Act 1, Scene 2, line 280)

In this quote, Petruchio reveals his plot to Katherine. His plot to marry her, and basically that she has no say because of the dowry that was placed by her father. He then says after this, “Will you, nill you and marry you…” When I looked up “nill you…” it means “zero or nothing,” so it was his intent to break her down as he builds himself up. It was clear that at first Katherine was reluctant to doing so, but if she had no choice it was nothing she could really do. Especially if her father told Petruchio that he can marry her. Petruchio also wants to tame Kate, although he doesn’t have the status she holds, before the marriage he still wants that same kind of control.  He calls her a “Wild kate.” and tells her he will in fact tame her, that he was born to do it. Even if she didn’t love him she has no choice but to deal with it because of how everything was set up.




Similar to the scenario in the book, Tai is faced with a difficult decision to make. From the conversations she has with Travis that they have chemistry and in fact are crushing on one another. Cher has already made the decision for her on who she wants her to date. Cher doesn’t want her hanging around the other crowds. Instead she pairs her up with a charismatic, rich stud named Elton. He is arrogant and stuck up and Tai doesn’t like him, but she stays. She goes on dates with him and puts up with his behavior all for the sake of being like Cher and being popular. At first when Tai appears on the screen, she is humble and shy. At this point in the movie she is the complete opposite. Cher is taming her own version of Kate, which is Tai. She is making her into something she is not. Just to do it really, there was no point in the movie where Tai said she wanted it. She really just wanted friends due to her being new at school.Although there is no dowry in place, the pairing up of the two are surely similar to the pair of petruchio and Kate.

"You are come to me in happy time, / . . . for I have some sport in hand / Wherein your cunning can assist me much"

(induction, scene 1, line 86)

In the beginning of the Induction, there is a man named christopher that is basically passed out drunk outside of a bar. A lord passes him and decides that he wants to plot and make a joke out of the situation. He has his servants take Christopher back to his home, so that when he wakes up they can pretend like he is a lord. They dress him up, and make him a banquet to eat. They go as far as dressing up one of their men as a woman, to pretend like he is his wife. Christopher is a beggar, but when presented with the ideal of him being a rich man he went with it. Im sure it was confusing but, deep down you’d have to somewhat know what you were and who you were. My guess is the thought of being someone else, someone with a higher class and riches coaxed him into being something he is not. With this being basically the beginning of the play, you can see that power is a central theme. Relating back to my thesis, these people that hold these high stature  believe that they can do whatever they please. In this case, the lord basically kidnapping this man and making him his play thing. It was all entertainment.







Cher got a C in one of her classes. Which would have brought her average down greatly. So because she thought she could, and because she was so desperate she thought of a plan to get her grade up. In one of the scenes before this she says that there is a “babe drought” in the school, which did not include her and her friend Dione. Everyone else like her step brother didn’t think that it was a great idea to play with people’s emotions or dig her nose into other people’s business. She secretly wrote love letters pretending to be her teachers and even played the “he said, she said situation.” Which made them more friendly with one another. Before it was too late, she got her grade up and the rest of the class reaped the benefits. They got imes to sleep, no homework and much more. Cher basically plotted against the crushes and admirations of the teacher and used them for her own entertainment. This is similar to the Lord and his servants making a joke out of Christopher. If Cher wasn’t as big as she was in her high school and didn’t have the resources she wouldn't have been able to successfully get her grade up. She used her status as an advantage.


Arranged Love

Posted by Eli Zimmerman in English 3 · Pahomov · A Band on


Shakespeare’s play The Taming of the Shrew has been accredited by many to be the first romantic comedy in literature. The story is of a group of wealthy Italian men named Lucentio, Hortensio, and Grumio who attempt to court the beautiful daughter of a wealthy man named Baptista. Batista's daughter Bianca is the youngest meaning she can not be courted until his eldest daughter Katherine has wed. So the three men have to think outside the box in order to find ways to get close to her. The play’s purpose is to question whether or not love actually exists in a world where arranged marriage is the only excepted marriage.

The Big Sick is a movie by Kumail Nanjiani in which he both wrote and starred in. The true story is of how Kumail a stand up comedian at the time left his traditional muslim family in Chicago for a white women named Emily Gordon who at the time was very sick due to a lung infection caused by antibiotic resistant bacteria. For a long period of time Kumail hid Emily from his parents so they would bring Pakistani women by the house to meet Kumail. Essentially the women court the man and his family.

The Taming of the Shrew and The Big Sick both revolve around love and whether or not love can be accomplished with an arranged marriage. Kumail struggles in the Big Sick breaking his families traditions to avoid being arranged to marry because he knows he will not find love that way. He also knows his parents also only wanted it as a status symbol to other Pakistani families. In the Taming of the Shrew Kate is forced to marry Petruchio because she has no other options. Her father only wants a man of wealth to take care of his fortune after he has passed. Given this the reader/ viewer can determine if marriage is arranged by parents it benefits the parents instead of the actual couple being married.  

Halfway through the play Lucentio reveals his plan to get closer to Bianca without the hardships of traditionally courting her. “You will be a school master and undertake the teaching of the maid: That's your device.” (Pg.43 Line 195). The plan was Lucentio’s servant Tranio’s brain child. He would step in as Lucentio so the actual Lucentio could get Bianca’s father, Baptista’s blessing. The plan works perfectly. In The Big Sick the situation is flipped as well as the gender roles. Like Bianca, Kumail is the one who is burdened with the weight of his parents judgement, like Baptista Kumail’s parents do not know the significant other exists. There is a point in the movie where Kumail is telling his little brother Naveed about Emily because the two are both less religious than their parents. Naveed is however happily married to a Pakistani woman. Naveed says to his brother, “Listen I understand, you’re in America and you want to see what it’s like, but eventually you have to marry a Pakistani woman.” Both of these examples reflect on how people will go out of their way to break societal normalities for love although it puts a lot of hardship on them. Bianca’s burning desire for Lucentio was so great that she could not even wait to get a chance of marrying Lucention. She was not willing to take the risk of Baptista rejecting him. Bianca was forced to take a shortcut to get what she desired most. Kumail on the other hand was forced to take to long route because he risked losing his parents love, or Emily’s. Both these situations but a great amount of pressure on the son and daughter who were forcing them into said relationship.



 

In the final act of the play Tranio (disguised as Lucentio is making his final plea to Baptista as to why he’s the best husband Baptista could ask for. Baptista: “I must confess your offer is the best and let your father make the assurance she is your own; else you must pardon me. If you should die before him, where's her dower?  Pg. 103 Line 415. In this line we see Baptista accepting Tranio’s offer so long as Bianca is provided with money in the event of Lucentio’s death. In The Big Sick Kumail’s mother is talking to him about how he shouldn’t expect a spark from the woman he will potentially spend the rest of his life with. “There’s not just going to be a magic spark, you have to stay open.” In both of these scenarios the true intentions of both parents, they have skin in the game and they prioritize their success over the happiness of their own children. One could speculate that Kumail’s mother wants him to marry a Pakistani woman because of the respect and honor it brings to the family. Although the family follows Islam she only cares about the nationality he marry’s meaning there is no religious tradition involved. The first and only thing Baptista asked for from the man that would marry his daughter. She in fact had no input on the matter. Baptista wanted to keep his family's socio economic status with the arrangement of the two.

 

 

Romantic love is a powerful force and that fact shines true in both of these pieces of comedic literature. Although many may believe Shakespeare intention of writing the novel was love doesn’t exist the will and grit of Bianca and Lucentio shine true in this play. And who knows the play was written in a time where arranged marriage was the only marriage, so maybe the play challenges that. The Big Sick is infact a challenge to arranged marriage which is institutionalized in so many cultures. It calls it out and say true love should prevail over the wishes and fulfillments of the parents needs. It is for these reasons arranged marriage mainly benefits the children's parents.   


2fer 7

Posted by Paxton Wentzell in English 3 · Pahomov · A Band on

The Benefits of Writing and Fine Arts

Most education programs in the developed world promote writing over art. This is a given. Above the kindergarten level, educators and parents take for granted that mastering language arts is indispensable in a competitive world, whereas fine arts are deprioritized as extracurricular. In a typical American school, students are required four years of English or literature as core subjects to graduate compared to no requirements at all in fine arts. However, upon in-depth research, the ostensible differences between the two subjects dissipates. In reality, fine arts and writing actually boast the same psychological benefits because both activities promote creativity and decrease stress.

While school can be strict and regimented, Creativity is the elusive gem that most educators try to refine in their students. Instead of relying on one prescribed way to develop creativity, research has discovered that a short session of making art can be as effective as creative writing. In the articles, The Modification of Sentence Structure and Its Relationship To Subjective Judgements of Creativity in Writing[3] and Educational Research: The Art of Problem Solving[4], investigators utilized a pretest/posttest design to quantify the increase of creative ability in children after writing and making art, respectively. In the writing study, fifth graders were asked to respond to writing prompts, whereas in the art study fifty graders engaged in sketching tasks. The children were assessed on their creativity and problem-solving abilities before and after the exercise. The results showed that the children were more likely to answer questions that stumped them in the pretest after both the writing and the art exercise. Both fine arts and writing contribute to psychological well-being from a creative standpoint. One of the greatest benefits that both creative mediums possess is their stress relieving abilities. An article by the Huffington post explains how artistic expression can relieve stress and anxiety by temporarily distancing the artist from their problems.[5] A similar phenomena can be found in journal writing. An article from Harvard Health demonstrates the positive impacts that writing with emotions can have on one’s stress and experience of trauma.[6] Subjects mainly experienced a reduction in stress and anxiety. Frequently, both emotional writing and art are proposed as valid antidotes to excessive stress. This proposition is rarely disputed among the general public, yet it is not reflected in the American education. The psychological similarity between the two creative medium is only the tip of the iceberg when one examines the uncanny neurological equivalence of the two creative outlets. The fact that the visual parts of the brain are activated while drawing may seem obvious. It may be less apparent that the same “visual and image processing” in the “parieto-frontal-temporal network”[7] are engaged during writing tasks. In a study entitled fMRI study testing the Neural Correlates of Creative Writing, Shah et al. reported that writing activates parts of the right side of the brain. This improves specific memory and cognitive abilities in a person. Another study focusing on the brain differences of artists versus non artists discovered that fine artists also tend to have a “stronger right-brain presence.”[8] Furthermore, artists showed to handle a larger “cognitive load,” have better “storage and controlled attention in the memory tasks,” and can better cope with “dual tasks.”[9] This means the regular production of art exercises the brain in such a way that one’s memory, cognitive speed, and integration ability are improved just like writing was shown to do in Shah et al. Art and writing affect a subject’s neurological functions in similar ways. So what caused a shift away from the arts in education? The reason can be traced to the federal No Child Left Behind and Common Core programs, which prioritized science and math over other subjects. In LA County, for example, 1/3 of the arts teachers were let go between 2008 and 2012[1], and for half of K-5 students, art was cut all together.[2] How can a program that’s supposedly trying to make education better, do such a terrible job keeping something as strong as art? It is obvious that art is seen as something beneath other activities such as writing even though they are so similar. An programs like the No Child Left Behind and Common Core are what continue to push our culture in the ignorant direction of ignoring art. Despite these paired benefits of writing and fine arts, writing continues to be a core subject in schools and art is often pushed to the sidelines. Casual endeavors into writing and fine arts can result in a significant boost in creativity and problem solving abilities for all ages. Both subjects are effective stress relievers, and repeated practice of either creative medium results in similar brain activations and modifications. Given these facts, fine arts should be given a greater focus in schools and deserves the same respect as language arts.

Works Cited Staff, EdSource. “Effort to revive arts programs in schools gains momentum.” EdSource, edsource.org/2014/effort-to-revive-arts-programs-in-schools-gains-momentum/63507. Accessed 24 Sept. 2017. “Let’s get rid of Art Education in schools.” Danny Gregory, 5 Oct. 2016, dannygregorysblog.com/2016/04/15/lets-get-rid-of-art-education-in-schools/. Accessed 24 Sept. 2017. Maloney, Karen Blase, and B. L. Hopkins. “THE MODIFICATION OF SENTENCE STRUCTURE AND ITS RELATIONSHIP TO SUBJECTIVE JUDGEMENTS OF CREATIVITY IN WRITING.” Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, Blackwell Publishing Ltd, 27 Feb. 2013, onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1901/jaba.1973.6-425/full. Accessed 24 Sept. 2017. “Educational research: The art of problem solving.” ArtsEdSearch, www.artsedsearch.org/summaries/educational-research-the-art-of-problem-solving. Accessed 24 Sept. 2017. Frank, Priscilla. “Study Says Making Art Reduces Stress, Even If You Kind Of Suck At It.” The Huffington Post, TheHuffingtonPost.com, 16 June 2016, www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/study-says-making-art-reduces-stress_us_576183ece4b09c926cfdccac. Accessed 24 Sept. 2017. Publishing, Harvard Health. “Writing about emotions may ease stress and trauma.” Harvard Health, www.health.harvard.edu/healthbeat/writing-about-emotions-may-ease-stress-and-trauma. Accessed 24 Sept. 2017. Shah, Carolin, et al. “Neural correlates of creative writing: An fMRI Study.” Human Brain Mapping, Wiley Subscription Services, Inc., A Wiley Company, 8 Dec. 2011, onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/hbm.21493/full. Accessed 24 Sept. 2017. Bhattacharya, Joydeep, and Hellmuth Petsche. “Drawing on mind’s canvas: Differences in cortical integration patterns between artists and non‐artists.” Human Brain Mapping, Wiley Subscription Services, Inc., A Wiley Company, 25 Apr. 2005, onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/hbm.20104/full. Accessed 24 Sept. 2017. “Sensitivity of human EEG alpha band desynchronization to different working memory components and increasing levels of memory load.” Neuroscience Letters, Elsevier, 5 Nov. 2003, www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0304394003011352. Accessed 24 Sept. 2017.

2fer #7 Raymond Rochester

Posted by Raymond Rochester-Pitts in English 3 · Pahomov · A Band on


         Does working out and lifting a fitter healthier lifestyle help your confidence



                                       Working out: The answer to confidence?


Physical fitness is a huge thing to many. There are many different ways that people do to get fit and stay in shape like running, boxing, lifting weights, and many other things that needs you to work hard, get your heart beating and blood pumping to burn calories  and build muscle. There are many benefits to living a fitter life like feeling better, looking better, being more capable and having benefits that goes as far as possibly living longer. Working out and living a better lifestyle can help your confidence because of the new self image that is made after the physical transformation..  


In an article from lifesum.com there is a person who talks about their  experiences of working out and also talks about how her physical transformation makes her feel more confident  “I’ve lost count of how many before and after pictures I’ve seen where people have undergone the most radical of radical transformations, and shed half their bodyweight, and then they say something along the lines of, ‘Honestly though, it’s not the weight that’s the biggest deal, I am so much more confident in my body and in my own skin’. This is typically the point at which I roll my eyes and think to myself ‘OF COURSE you feel so much more confident, you’re slimmer and you hated your body before!’

But I’ve had a kind of aha! moment. I will say that I’m not sure if there is any psychology behind this, so feel free to disregard everything. All I know is that for me, working out has been strangely empowering.” This person says that she has found a confidence because of the body transformation that they went through from working out. It was said that this person hated their body before getting in better shape and comparing how they saw themself back then to now is a huge part of their new found confidence.



On a question and answer type of set up on this website called sharecare a question was asked. The question was ‘Does exercise help increase confidence?’ Jeff Coswell an NASM elite trainer said “Absolutely. Working out and seeing your body change definitely will help change your attitude towards yourself and even life. When you start feeling good about what you have accomplished your whole perception changes. As a personal trainer myself just seeing peoples eyes light up when the have lost that weight and body fat makes me even feel good. When you start looking and feeling better your whole attitude changes for the better. Have you ever met someone who said I have lost all this weight, dropped all this body fat and have more energy and I am miserable? Of course not because reaching these goals makes you feel you can accomplish anything. So work hard and feel great.” From Jeff Coswell quote it looks like he's saying that it's mostly a mental type of feeling that changes based on your progress and how you look. Once again it's the same Idea from paragraph 1 where the comparison to the before and after transformation has a huge boost in confidence.




In this article about a man who was suffering from chronic pain on a website called www.pickthebrain.com, the man in the article states that Working out has many benefits towards building your confidence. First, it teaches you the importance of making a decision and what really deciding is. It helps you to build a more positive self-image and an internal compass. You learn gratitude, discipline, and visualization. Finally, you learn to move more slowly, which makes you appear more confident and self-assured. Once again the idea of self image of brought up.

Due to the self image of humans, the idea of bettering ourselves is needed to make lives easier. This shows how working out and living a better lifestyle can help your confidence because of the new self image that is made after the physical transformation.

This is my best 2fer because of the connection I was able to make in the real world. This was also a topic that I was comfortable with and I personally workout a ton myself. I have seen the personal growth in me which makes my 2fer a lot more connectable with the audience and myself. The research I did was expressed in my 2fer and how I was able to piece things together which made me feel confident in my own work.


Super Powers

Posted by Amaris Ortiz in English 3 · Pahomov · A Band on

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.


Make Economy Better

Posted by Ailin Li in English 3 · Pahomov · A Band on

​

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/.


2 fer #7 The Red Sox's

Posted by Jakob Klemash-Kresge in English 3 · Pahomov · A Band on

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.



2fer #7- Justin Stewart

Posted by Justin Stewart in English 3 · Pahomov · A Band on

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.


2fer #7 - Sean DeSilva

Posted by Wedage DeSilva in English 3 · Pahomov · A Band on

   Motivational Rewards
When it comes to academic performance, some students tend to lack motivation to keep going, to keep performing well in school. They tend to dip down in their academic performances and not care as much as they used to. Parents should be aware of their kids academic performances and get involved in their child's academics. Parents should always look to push their kids to do better on their academics, rewarding them based on their grades because it would push their child to perform better.

A study from education.gov titled "Should Kids Get Rewarded for Getting Good Grades in School?" touches on the idea of parents rewarding their kids with money for getting good grades. The idea of rewarding their child with money is a popular idea that is common is many households. The pros from this act would be boosting their child's motivation in school and confidence. However, with these pros come cons that view another side. The child may think that they need a 'paycheck' whenever they perform well academically. So the parent needs to find a balance between when the kid gets payed and how much the parent is willing to pay their child. 
 
The idea of rewarding ones child with currency is accepted in society. Although, not every household would have the opportunity to reward their child with currency due to their economic stance. Which means that the parent should improvise, such as a nice meal for their child to be rewarded in one way. An article titled "Should Parents Pay if Their Kids Get Good Grades?" from Money Crashers touches on the subject of getting good grades and compensation. The article states, "Many parents who are willing to pay their children for good grades will argue that it is a child’s job to go to school and learn. Therefore, they should be compensated for positive results just as they are at their jobs." Being able to recognize the child's hard work is greatly appreciated with rewards. The simple of idea of parents giving recognition to their child is what ultimately matters.

Opposing parents may argue that it's their child's job to do well in school and it's not their job to reward them constantly. An article from Today.com expressed that. In the article, Mary Thorsen-Nolan who was a mom expressed their feelings towards the topic. The article states, "NEVER, EVER!” wrote Mary Thorsen-Nolan. “I told my kids that their grades and their ambition was on them, not me. ... I helped them to set their goals and encouraged them to work their hardest to reach them, but I never once offered incentive other than pride in a job well done.” This shows how parents can stick to their own rules and not confine to things going on around in society. 

Parents should be able to recognize their child's hard work and reward them from time to time. The rewards do not always have to be money but any form of recognition that's rewarding is good for the child's growth. These studies show how parents should always look to push their kids to do better on their academics, rewarding them based on their grades because it would push their child to perform better
I think that this is my best 2fer yet because of the extensive research that I was able to do and how I was able to connect it in words to the reader. Other than that it was simple to come up with a debatable topic and show how these things matter in the real world. 
​ Work Cited

Ministry of Education, Guyana.” Should Kids Get Rewarded for Getting Good Grades in School?, www.education.gov.gy/web/index.php/parenting-tips/item/2450-should-kids-get-rewarded-for-getting-good-grades-in-school

BreedYou, Matt. “Topics.” Money Crashers, www.moneycrashers.com/should-parents-pay-if-their-kids-get-good-grades.

McCready, Amy. “Why You Shouldn't Pay Children for Grades.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 13 Sept. 2015, parenting.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/09/13/why-you-shouldnt-pay-children-for-grades

2Fer #7 - Alan Li

Posted by Alan Li in English 3 · Pahomov · A Band on

Alan Li

Ms. Pahomov

English 3

19 April 2018

Gathering Players in a Never-Ending Quest

Before Everquest was created, there were games like Dungeons and Dragons and Adventure that captivated people who were interested in roleplaying as fantasy characters. Unlike most massively multiplayer online role-playing games or MMORPGs today, those games relied heavily on text messages detailing what was happening in the game in order for players to play the game, which is probably bizarre to many people today when looking back to games produced in the 1980s. It was the 1990s where users were able to start playing MMORPGs that are three-dimensional. Unlike other games of the genre at the time, Everquest offered near to impossible quests users would have to complete in order to traverse the world of Norrath—the setting where Everquest takes place in. Although the difficulty of Everquest ended up detracting many people from playing the game, Daybreak Game Company—the company that owns the rights to Everquest—has helped influence the MMORPG genre and can arguably be the most influential MMORPG so far. The impact Everquest had compared to other role-playing games can because of the difficulty level encouraging members of the community to form stronger bonds with one another.

Everquest was able to build stronger bonds between players trying to explore a difficult environment to play on by allowing them to communicate with each other through quests. For many role-playing games today such as TERA and World of Warcraft, users are able to have an easier time completing quests compared to Everquest due to quest logs appearing on the user’s screen that tells him or her what to do and where to go next, which would lead to players being able to traverse through the game without having to interact with any other person in the game. In Everquest, there were no quest logs that would be able to help players with their journey so users would have to look up tutorials written by other players in order fulfill quests in the game. Steven Messner, who is an editor working for PC Gamer, states in an article, “At the time, grinding seemed exciting. It forced you to play with strangers in order to kill tough monsters, and was the only real method to level up your character. By existing in such a harsh world, Everquest inspired strong relationships forged not by the joy of surviving, but of growing together.” From the quote, by noting how players would grow together in the game, it shows how users would be able to make lifelong friends in a stressful environment, which gives users support that cannot be found in other games of the genre. Due to players having to rely on each other for a long time in order to progress through the game, it led to players building friendships and camaraderie in a way that would be impossible to form in any other MMORPG due to its challenging nature.

Along with challenges that built stronger bonds between members of the community, it allowed these players to find the motivation to play the game. Because of the overwhelming difficulties players would have to endure, users would have to be motivated in order to continue the game. In other online games like World of Warcraft, since users are given quests that are easier to complete compared to quests in Everquest, users are able to complete the quests in the game earlier, which would lead to them no longer having any motivation to playing the game due to not having any more objectives. Senior Editor Mike Fahey of Kotaku—a company that talks about video games—notes in a Kotaku article, “The original EverQuest changed the way I interacted with people. By giving me a well-defined role to play, the game made me feel like an important part of any adventuring party, which did wonders for my confidence and self-esteem.” Based on the quote, when he states how he has a well-defined role, it could be interpreted that he is not just talking about his character in the game; he is also talking about his purpose. With comrades having to rely on each other and having that sense of determination to succeed in the game, Everquest gave many users purpose to playing a game that would deter many people who have little to no experience playing the game.

In spite of there being more MMORPG games users can now play other than Everquest, when it came to building a community of dedicated users, Everquest helped facilitate that through difficulties in the game. Besides being one of the first games in the MMORPG genre to be three-dimensional, Everquest helped introduce many users to many mechanics today such as quests, dungeons, and bosses, which can be found in MMORPGs that came after it like World of Warcraft and Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn. However, despite those games being more popular than Everquest, Everquest is still played by many despite its age. To end on a final note, when talking about the success the staff team had with Everquest, Brad McQuaid, who is one of the creators of Everquest, once stated in a GameSpot interview, “While they're very proud of their first creation, they feel a need deep down to keep going, upward and onward.” From this, it shows the struggle, determination, and effort the staff team had that could be reminiscent to their player base when it came to developing the game since it was one of the first game of its kind.

Works Cited

Messner, Steven. “A Brief History of MMO Games.” Pcgamer, PC Gamer THE GLOBAL

AUTHORITY ON PC GAMES, 28 July 2017,

www.pcgamer.com/a-brief-history-of-mmo-games/.

Fahey, Mike. “Happy 15th Anniversary, EverQuest.” Kotaku Australia, Kotaku Australia, 17

Mar. 2014, www.kotaku.com.au/2014/03/happy-15th-anniversary-everquest/.

Walker, Trey. “Brad McQuaid Interview.” GameSpot, Gamespot, 11 Jan. 2002,

www.gamespot.com/articles/brad-mcquaid-interview/1100-2838404/.


ENG3-027

Term
2017-18

Other Websites

Launch Canvas

Blog Tags

Teacher