Blog 7: Revision of CATW exam, Practice 2

        The passage adapted from, "The Woman Who Died in the Waiting Room", by Jeneen Interlandi explains how a 49-year old woman(Esmin Green) died in just 20 minutes later in the largest psychiatric hospital, after the nurse checked on her in 40 minutes. It begins with Esmin Green, twisting between two chairs under a security camera for twenty minutes, with two security guards not even bothering to help her. Poor patients with psychiatric problems have less medical care in public hospitals. Instead of locking the mentally ill away to uncaring institutions, the mentally ill were offered a place in society, out of thought. I agree with the statement that, "They are the poor, the uninsured and the undocumented."
         There are times when many patients are ignored, due to health insurance, wealth of class, or both. I find the death of Esmin Green disturbing. It happens almost all of the time. You sign in, a nurse makes you wait in the emergency room and you wait nearly forever in the waiting room untill you are half dead, whether mental or not. One time, I was rushed to the emergency room from rash.. I was in fifth grade at  P.S 163 Alfred E. Smith, in the Upper West Side. I was ten years old at the time. The rash began after eating a fish sandwich. I did not realize the condition untill after recess, when my neck was very ichy and I went to the bathroom, realizing at the mirror that my neck was swollen and bumpy.  I remember that I had to be dismissed early from LEAP afterschool program, because the condition of the rash worsened. My parents drove me to Mt. Sinai hospital, in the Upper East Side. My mother checked me in at nine o' clock at night. A nurse did not come in untill three o' clock in the morning. At that time, the rash nearly spread my entire body. The only part that the rash did not spread was my face. What the doctor gave me was Benadrill, a medicine used for allergic reactions, something that can be buyed at the pharmacy in five minutes. My parents were angry about this, because what they waited six hours for was something in which my parents would of buyed for me at the pharmacy, and I would be cured instantly. This is why I find the death of Esmin Green disturbing, because why have hospitals, if you would not be treated the same way as the wealthy would? It is wrong and unfair. My situation is not a mental sickness, but I can understand how it feels like compared to Esmin Green.
         People who are not wealthy would have to go through the waiting room in hospitals. Not only that, at times, for those who may not have health care insurance, it would be more difficult for them to be treated. For hospitals in America, it's, no insurance, no good treatment. Even for the mentally ill and poor, it's bad how treatment is judged by how much money you have in your account. Not only is it bad, but very sad that you cannot depend on public hospials in America.

Blog 6: Personal Directions for CATW

    On the day of the exam, I will not panic. I know exactly the rules of the exam like butter, I just need to stay calm and focused. The day that I first recieve the exam, I would read the passage carefully, twice. The second time, I would carefully underline the main idea and the key points, supporting the main idea. After, I would begin summarizing, by first introducing where the passage is adapted from, or title, and summarizing the main idea and the supporting ideas, leaving out any secondary details. Then, I would write my thesis, with materials supporting my thesis. My thesis would specifically agree or disagree with the passage. The first paragraph is just writing the title and/ or author ( If there is one.), summarize the main idea and key points, and agree/disagree with the topic, using a significant idea. For the second paragraph, I would brainstorm before I begin writing, because the first thing I think about are good examples to support my thesis. Then I would freewrite, edit, and begin writing my second and third paragraph. Other techniques for writing are prewiting, outline and clustering. In my second and third paragraphs, I would begin with an opening sentence. A way to write my examples would be downshifting. Another way, depending if I would write a story, or write in first person or thrid person, would be narrative. After my two paragraphs, would be my conclusion. I would make sure to reread my essay a couple of times, making corrections and/or changes, so that I can help my reader follow my thinking. I will also make sure to bring plenty of pens, and a paper dictionary for any unusual words.
        What is most important that I would have to look out for on the day of the exam is timing. I do tend to freeze when it goes to how I am going to write, and I do need to avoid that as best as I can. I also need to be careful with grammar and punctuation. I do know what I have to write; the problem is how am I going to write it? Another thing is missing the supporting ideas. This happens to me most of the time. I need to look out for that, because that is the first thing the reader will be looking for. It is important that the main points are there, otherwise, the reader would make an assumption that the writer does not understand the topic. I also become exeremely nervous on the day of the exam.
    What I would do to avoid freezing, is to freewrite. When I freewrite, it helps me bring out my ideas, and all I can do is edit afterword. For the passage, I would have to take my time to read it carefully and think about it; is this really part of the main ideas? I do plan to bring a watch on the day of the exam to time myself. Also, the most important of the most important; I need to not panic and focus on the exam. I would also advise myself to reread my essay carefully. Am I sure that my grammar and punctuation are fixed carefully?

Practice 3 of CATW exam

               The passage "Is Music a Good Tool for Health?", adapted from "How and Why Is Music a Good Tool For Health" by Elizabeth Scott, explains how music relaxes the mind and relieves stress. Hospitals begin to use music therapy to calm patients and relieve muscle tension. Music can bring lasting benefits to your mind. The fact that music and music therapy not only relaxes your mind but also helps on your health is agreeable at its face.
          Usually when you turn on the radio station to Z100 or Hot97, certain songs play based on genre. Of course, every person has a different taste for music. By that different taste, the person is relaxed by the music. It is also true that by playing a song you do remember how the song goes. While listening to the song, it either calms your mind or helps you focus more. Some people study with music, because the sound of silence would be a distraction to them. Others listen to music to stay away from stress they have to deal with in daily life. Without music, it would probably be a lifeless world.
             I don't know if everyone has ever gone to theatrical shows, but I've gone to one before. One of the most memorable shows I have gone to was The Lion King. What was significant about The Lion King was not only the art of the puppets, but the art of music being played. The drums used in most of the songs excite me, it causes me to focus more on what will happen on the next scene of the play because of the music. My favorite song was The Circle of Life. The song is played twice, at the very beginning and at the very end. The way the ensemble sing the song brings a beautiful harmony to my mind. When the song ends, it ends with a heavy drum beat, so loud that I can feel it through the beat of my heart. Using music for theatre also brings a certain calm out of excitment.
             Music helps relax your mind, and relieves stress. It's very heloful for almost everything. Music is everywhere. Music is heard inside stores, cars, movies and any other place that music would be reasonable to appear.

Blog 5: Gone Baby Gone

     The movie "Gone Baby Gone", is about a detective (Patrick) investigating on the abduction of Amanda. As he continues to investigate with his partner, Angie, the investigation led to Amanda's death. Discovered that Amanda's death was fake, he found out that Captian Doyle abducted her because she was not being taken care of by her mother, Helene. Patrick was stuck between keeping the abduction a secret, and bring the child back to his mother. Patrick choose to to send Amanda back to Helene. On Lionel's side, Captain Doyle believed that Amanda had to be taken away because Helene wasn't taking care of her. Lionel was telling Patrick a story of when Helene left Amanda in the car, and how she was roasted. Another thing is that Helene is a drug addict. In Lionel's point of view, for Amanda to be raised by a drug addict would not come out good for her. Which is why they find that it was the right thing to take Amanda away from Helene, because it would be for the better.
           The other side believed that no matter how imperfect a person may be, no one has a right to interfere in their life. Even though Helene didn't seem to care about Amanda, she still believed that she should keep her child. She doesn't pay attention to Amanda, but when she was abducted, she began to panic. She realized that her child was missing and she made a promise to Patrick that he would bring her back. In the end, Patrick did keep her promise and Helene was the same person as before.
         The movie really takes the side of returning Amanda back to her mother because it was a bad consequence, but the right decision. It was the right decision because, no one would of liked it if they had a child and it was taken away from them. Just like Helene, the parent would be frightened and angry about the abductor. Basically saying, no one has a right to take ones child away, no matter how bad the parent may be. Everybody was mad at Patrick in the end, but he was responsible for taking care of Amanda because Helene was not paying attention to her.