https://stonybrook.digication.com/muhammad_rivaldo/

Edited the welcome page to show a friendly face smiling at the reader. Also added an About Me page with a link to my dance team’s latest performance that includes my own piece.

Dear Karli,

In your paper “Society and Body Images,” you explored the role that mass media plays in creating an ideal body type very well. The explanation you gave as to what that means for different sexes and what’s done by people to achieve that was on point and it’s clear that you did your research. I did feel like I learned some more about the subject but the subject itself could use some work. Many people already know that society creates this ideal body type and it’s further propagated as a result of social and mass media. Making the topic more personal or specific can strengthen your paper greatly. I do feel that a lot of the content was repeated as well. While this is good in the sense that you’re not veering away from the main subject of the paper, it can get a little boring to read the words “ideal body type” or “mass media” over and over again. Yes, this is the subject of the paper but it helps to break it up and not use the same phrasing over and over again, if it is difficult at first. In addition, it seems that your paragraphs are very long. Each one is about a page in length and as a result, there’s a lot that’s packed in, making it hard to read. While each paragraph does cover information relevant to its topic, the length makes it easy to lose focus, causing the reader to either go back or push through with confusion. Breaking up the paragraphs a bit more can make the essay overall easier to read. Overall, the paper is very well written and covers a topic that’s becoming increasingly important. It’s clear that you did your research and you know a lot about the topic, but by applying what I said above, I think your paper can be even stronger. As a male, it was interesting to learn that more males develop eating disorders than I initially thought, and it’s one of the things that I will be taking away from this paper.

Regards,

Muhammad

I posted this picture on my Instagram last Friday. My team, PUSO Modern, competed at Elements Dance Competition this past weekend and this was our promotional photo. Our admin board sent this to the group chat, asking us to post this and spread the word about the competition and our performance. In addition to posting it on my Instagram, I also posted it to my Instagram and Snapchat stories. I hoped that all my followers and friends would see it and ultimately buy tickets to come watch and support. When I posted the picture, I captioned it with “One more day! Mad hype to share my first Elements stage with this team 😊
Buy your tickets here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/fusion-presents-elements-xviii-tickets-43938668741” By including the link, I made it easier for people to go directly to where they would buy tickets. In the picture, I also tagged our team’s Instagram page as well as Boston University’s Fusion’s page, the hosting team. By tagging these pages, it would appear on their own Instagram pages and hopefully more people would see. Since this picture was used primarily to promote the competition and our team’s performance, I wanted it to reach as many people as possible. I could have done more such as using the hashtag #elementsxviii but, for whatever reason, I didn’t. This picture got far less likes than the other ones I’ve posted, receiving 109 likes while my others hover around 300. Since it isn’t a picture of me, it’s to be expected that less people would like it. #like4like

To whom it may concern,

I’m writing to you today to apply for the position of Team Member at Penguin Ice Cream, which I saw posted on a job board at indeed.com. With over a year of service in the food industry, serving rolled ice cream to customers and developing exceptional customer service skills, I am confident in my abilities to perform this role and become a central element to your team.

My prior work experience at 10Below Ice Cream familiarized myself with serving rolled ice cream. I have proven my ability to serve Instagram-worthy and delicious ice cream, evidenced by the pictures that people take of my ice cream after making it. The look of satisfaction and smiles on people’s faces when they take their first bite is a sign of the craftsmanship I put into my work, creating a delicious food for customers to enjoy. While working at 10Below Ice Cream, I was also responsible for managing the cash register, keeping stock, and maintaining a neat working environment. I demonstrated independence after working shifts by myself and being able to keep up with orders and leave the customer with a positive impression and good experience, despite being the only one on shift.

Working at 10Below Ice Cream also allowed me to develop great organizational and multitasking skills. As a worker there, I was in charge of multiple things at once, including taking orders, making the orders, topping the ice cream, and making sure everything is running smoothly. With a plethora of tasks on my plate at once, it was essential that I kept my cool and efficiently worked. Even under stress from long lines and customer demands, it was crucial to me that each customer left feeling satisfied with their ice cream.

Attached is my resume with further information on my skills, prior work experience, and other accomplishments in this field. I look forward to discussing my application with you further.

Sincerely,

Muhammad

Pagan Kennedy, writer for the New York Times, states in her article “The Secret to a Longer Life? Don’t Ask These Dead Longevity Researchers” that the best thing we can do for increasing our lifespan is to not focus on our own personal decisions, but instead to fight for better public sanitation, cleaner water, and control of infectious diseases. In her article, Kennedy discusses the many different self-experiments conducted in the field of anti-aging and longevity research. She references several different scientists, using appositives to clarify where they worked and their positions. Some scientists, such as Dr. Walford, followed fad diets such as calorie restriction with optimal nutrition (CRON). Other scientists included supplements or added compounds to their food, such as Dr. Brenner, who drinks vitamin-B-laced milk. All these methods would supposedly allow one to live past 100, with some claiming up to beyond 120 years, but all failed due to complications not related to food. Many circumstances we are unable to control on an individual level, such as bad genes, accidents, or exposure to smog or pesticides, as mentioned in the article. Kennedy talks about the history of lead exposure in the United States and how outlawing leaded gasoline worldwide and reducing sources of lead exposure led to average lead levels in the blood dropping by more than 80%. This in turn resulted in decreasing the “risk of heart disease, kidney disease, and possibly dementia.” She regards this as a “lifestyle choice,” one that was a result of many people’s decisions, not by one person. She uses studies, citing one that suggests “babies that exposed to high levels of air pollution in the womb may be at risk of premature aging.” All of these are instances where food plays little control in actually affecting lifespan as opposed to choices we make collectively. At the end of her article, Kennedy uses humor by saying “That’s why I’ve added some new components to my diet-and-exercise routine this year: I’m calling Congress and donating to organizations that work for environmental justice.” She urges readers to do the same, making a call to action and talking to them directly.

In determining whether the use of copyrighted material is considered “fair use,” four factors are brought into question: Purpose and and character of use (commercial vs. nonprofit educational), nature of the copyrighted work, amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole, and effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work. (https://www.copyright.gov/fair-use/more-info.html). The biggest concern for creatives is to what extent will their work be protected and for others, how much of a work they can use in their own. Every day, thousands of videos are being taken down from YouTube for copyright infringement, ranging from just muting the video to blocking it entirely worldwide. Many of my favorite dance videos were taken down as a result of copyright laws. This leads me, the viewer, to be disappointed, but more important, the dancer to be discouraged from posting, in fear of of their future videos getting taken down as well. Fans of artists are not able to make their own lyric videos or fanmade music videos  for this same fear. DJs and music producers would not be able to sample specific sections of a track in order to create their own music. Amateur film critics and parody makers are unable to integrate clips of the movies in their own videos. As a result, many people resort to other video streaming websites such as Vimeo. YouTube is meant to be a platform where content creators should, in theory, be able to post as they please. Understandably, some content used in videos is fairly blocked but many record labels and recording studios abuse their copyright laws and end up hurting content creators in the first place. With almost five BILLION videos being watched every day, it’s unjust that the amateur filmmaker or DJ is reprimanded for wanting to put out their work and get recognized. At one point, there was even a hashtag trending on twitter, #WTFU (where’s the fair use) with content creators speaking out against this issues. These copyright laws should be revisited with cases of fair use being reviewed further, as opposed to giant labels abusing their power and “protecting” their work.

After reading “Us and Them” by David Sedaris, I took a moment to reflect on myself. In Sedaris’s essay, he paints a picture of his younger self, spying on and scrutinizing a family unlike his own. This family, the Tomkeys, did not have a television and in young Sedaris’s mind, made them alien to him — in other words, they aren’t normal. Everyone, including myself, have ran into a person or perhaps a group of people unlike ourselves. This could be by the way they dress or how they talk or even what hobbies they’re into. First impressions play a lot in determining how we view someone, and in the case of Sedaris with the Tomkeys, creating a false image of them. Living without a television meant living with ignorance in isolation to Sedaris, young and naive at the time. He says, “It occurred to me that they needed a guide, someone who could accompany them through the course of an average day and point out all the things they were unable to understand” (Sedaris, 1). Reading this sentence actually angered me for the fact that he assumes that without a TV, they need a person’s help to be able to put things into context and understand what’s going on in the world. He regarded having a guide as a need, as if they would be unable to progress through the day without one. Understandably, as a child at the time, his view of the world was skewed and so I cannot put the blame on him entirely for this. At the same time, I’m sure there were moments in my life when I made false assumptions about someone based on a predetermined notion of them. Growing up, I learned to not trust in my first impressions and to give people the benefit of the doubt. I believe that this is just part of becoming more mature and learning to be more open-minded. I attribute most of this to the environment I was raised and the people around me, teaching me that there are so many amazing people in the world and I just need to be open to meeting them. On a different note, the essay also makes us stop and look at ourselves. Despite not owning a TV, the Tomkeys still seemed like good people, leaving candy out on Halloween for others to have, even if it wasn’t the best. They aren’t aliens like Sedaris viewed them as. This view of them led him so far as to attempt to eat all his Halloween candy for the sole reason of not wanting to let them have it. When his mom tells him, “You should look at yourself. I mean, really look at yourself,” he feels foolish for being so greedy and selfish. At the end of the day, moms are always right and there were many times when my own made me stand back and look at who I am.

Just what the title sounds like.

Rhetoric Analysis Draft 1-2dhgzgr

The song “Only One” was written by Kanye West and Paul McCartney over a two-day period while they were in Mexico, alongside other artists. Kanye has built a name for himself through the music that he’s produced and is an icon in streetwear and fashion, with his own clothing line Yeezy. Paul McCartney, once a member of The Beatles, is a world renowned singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and composer. “Only One” was Kanye’s first song released since his album “Yeezus” dropped a year and a half ago. With Kanye’s and McCartney’s autotuned vocals over stripped down instrumentals, the song is meant to feel raw and emotional. It’s written and sung from the perspective of Kanye’s late mother, Donda West, looking down on him and his daughter. In the song, he is sharing the message that his mother had supposedly passed down to him from Heaven. As one can expect, the song invokes a sort of melancholy and sentimental feeling, the main pathos of the song. For its ethos, most listeners would be able to relate the feeling of having your mom watching over you, watching you grow up and be the person you are now. As for logos, the song is written from the perspective of someone who has passed, a mother. The lyrics reflect that, an example being “Hello my only one, just like the mornin’ sun/ You’ll keep on risin’ ’til the sky knows your name.” Both a tribute to his mother and in a way, a lullaby for his daughter North, Kanye and McCartney composed a work of art that leaves us all missing our moms.

Kanye West, an international superstar, fashion icon, and music producer, sets the foundation of his career and success through all of the hard work he put in. Through his rise to stardom, he attributes his motivation to his late mother, an important figure in his life. His song “Only One” feat. Paul McCartney was written from his mother’s perspective, speaking to Kanye and his daughter North. What makes this song interesting is that it’s not so much as a tribute to his mother, but rather a message that she is sending to him from after her passing. The story goes that he and Paul McCartney was sitting around, just playing music and sort of freestyling, when he sang these lyrics. After more time and thought, he realized that it wasn’t him singing these lyrics but rather his mom. A little out of the ordinary, but I feel like that’s what makes the song so genuine. Kanye had a very close relationship with his mom, like I do with mine. She is the one that inspires me to work hard and reach success through all that she’s done for me. In the song, Kanye’s mother is looking down on him from heaven and is there to say that she’s proud of all that he’s accomplished and is looking forward to his bright future. She references his daughter North (Nori), asking him to tell North about her. In this aspect, she is viewed as a proud grandmother as well. I look forward to the day when I am able to have kids of my own and my own mother will meet them and call them her grandchildren. At the end of the day, everything I do is for myself and for my family, hoping that one day I can have a bright future with them. This song makes me feel hopeful and brings me back down to earth, humbling me and reminding me why I do anything that I do. Kanye is an artist I look up to highly who I respect for his passion for music and fashion as well as his drive. Perhaps I might not reach the level that he is at right now, but I want to be the star of my own life and reach success by my standards. Of all of his music, this is by far one of my favorites.