Final Blog.

For this posting I will be looking back on my experience using blogger and what benefits I have gained from this. First the idea of using a blog instead of a journal to work on my writing was pretty new to me. I didn't think I'd feel comfortable putting out there my informal writing. Turns out it was a pretty good Idea and I liked it a lot. With using a blog instead of a journal came many benefits. It was much easier communicating with my professor, The work that we had to do would be up on his blog other students blogs were up there for us to read, Which was helpful and useful. The fact that I was able to look at the other students writing was pretty good cause it would help with ideas or with knowing what not to do when it came to my writing. I think the fact that I knew my posts would be public made me a little more insecure to my own writing especially when my professor made us write our original essays on our blogs that were so bad sometimes. It also made me feel like I had to be more cautious and pay attention more to how I write. If I had to describe my self as a writer I would have to say that I'm not that much of a strong writer. I know that I can work on a few things that I need help on. As a writer I feel that I have more weaknesses than strengths. Some of my weaknesses are that I ramble on too much, I don't really do good on my grammar. In my Eng099 class I feel like I learned a lot of different techniques for writing in my class like down shifting , free writing and outlining which are all good especially for the CAT-W exam. My writing this semester I feel did change a lot more I pay attention to what I'm writing now I make sure that my spelling is correct and I feel like I put more effort into it versus back then. As I move on into ENG101 I think I need to work on being able to express myself in a correct grammatical way.

Blog 6: Personal directions for the CATW

For the day of the CATW exam I am going to go by these personal instructions. When I first receive the text I will read it once quickly then read it a second time and mark the main idea, key ideas and decide on the one idea that I will choose to agree/disagree with. Once I am done with reading the text I will go ahead and start on my writing. With the writing I will first use any Invention Technique such as brain storming, free writing, outline or looping. I personally like the outline technique so I will use that. Once I start writing my essay I know that my essay should include an Opening sentence that will introduce the topic that I am writing about. Then I will go on to summarize the passage in my own words making sure to include the title of the passage and the author’s name. In that first paragraph I would also include the main idea of the passage and state key ideas of the passage carefully leaving out secondary details. After that I will include the one idea that I feel is significant to me and agreeing or dis agreeing with that. This leads me into my second and third paragraph which is where I can use my own words and express my opinion on the one Idea I chose to write about. In the second paragraph I need to make sure to include my first example any kind of experience or evidence that I use that will support my opinion on the Idea I believe in. The third paragraph should include a second kind of evidence or experience supporting my idea. In these 2 paragraphs I need to make sure I don’t use anything from the text that was provided to me I can’t quote anything nor refer to anything back in the text because this is my own opinion. I am however able to talk about any other text as long as it has to do with my opinion and it relates. Another thing my examples should include if it is a personal experience, It should include a time a setting details it should be more of a showing type of writing instead of just going on and telling. Once I am done with my 2 body paragraphs I will move on to concluding my essay in my conclusion I can always end it by stating that this is why I believe in the idea and maybe repeating the idea again. After I am done with writing my essay I will make sure to look over it and seek for any spelling errors and stuff.

I feel I have a lot of thing to look out for the day of the test like making sure I keep track of time and leave enough time to be able to revise my essay before handing it in or spelling and my neatness in writing sometimes when I do get into the writing I would write to fast and it becomes non legible and that could possibly take out points also because of my spelling. For these to not happen to me I will make sure I have a dictionary with me so I can look back in case I get stuck on a word I’ll also wear a watch to keep track of my timing make sure I’m not either rushing myself or taking too much time on reading and outlining before my essay. I’ll also bring a couple of pens with me just in case just because you never know when one can run out of ink. Lastly I will make sure I keep my phone OFF! And not on silent because if it goes off they will fail you just because of that which is ridiculous in my opinion but whatever. It would suck to have to fail this test and have to take the class over just because my phone went off. Other than that I shall stay calm breathe have a good breakfast the morning of and make sure I rest up the night before.

Blog 6 Is Music Good For Health essay.

Music is the new medicine. In the article "How and Why Is Music a Good Tool For Health?" by Elizabeth Scott, the author believes music is a new form of healing and has a positive effect on your body and mind. The health care field is taking steps into incorporate music with healing their patients according to the article. The author gives 2 examples about the positive effect music therapy can bring to ones health and the different beats stimulates brainwaves and concentration. I agree with the second example "This is why music and music therapy can help prevent the damaging effects of chronic stress, thereby aiding not only relaxation but also health."

My mother, my cousin Stephanie and I all suffer from migraines. I'm not sure when my mom's or Stephanie's started but mine began when I turned 13. To constantly have migraines and have to force pills down your throat is the worst feeling in the world. When I turned 17 my mother took me to a neurologist. He said that I have 2 choices either keep on depending on pills all the time whenever I get migraines, or listen to any kind of soothing music to feel relaxed and stress free. Being that I am an impatient person I went with the pills. The would work from time to time but one day I decided to just lay in bed and relax listening to my I pod. To my surprise my doctors advice worked. My cousin left to boot camp when I was 17 we wrote back and forth and she would complain that boot camp and having migraines doesn't mix. So I told her that she just needs to try and relax and listen to relaxing music when she gets a chance.

One day I was at home and watching a show called The Doctors. Their segment for the day was music therapy and the effects it has on people. They had a guest on the who was pregnant and she was talking about a pregnancy tool and how before this one she had heard how babies in the womb usually develop better learning abilities if you put classical or soothing music to the belly. She went on and she did that twice a week which resulted in her baby girl not coming out a genius but catches on to learning a bit better than most kids her age.


I believe that in the state our country is in now. Music therapy works best. It would really reduce the stress and make peoples health better to just turn the music up to what ever they want and feel stress free.

Blog 5 Gone Baby Gone

In the movie Gone Baby Gone the characters Police Captain Boyle, Remy, Lionel and Angie believe in consequentialism. Consequentialism is the view that morality is all about
producing the right kinds of overall consequences. The characters that believe
in this believe that they know what is best for Amanda. For example in the
movie when Patrick and Angie go to speak to Doyle they find that Doyle has had
Amanda the whole time. Patrick threatened to call the cops on Doyle but Angie
tried to stop him because she feels like Amanda looks happy with the Doyle’s,
she could have a better life with them. Another example is when Captain Doyle
tells Patrick that he’s begging him not for the sake of himself but for the
sake of the child to let her stay with them. Patrick on the other hand believes in ethical
absolutism which is that an act committed is the same no matter what. For example
a murder is always a murder and a kidnapping is always a kidnapping. Patrick felt
guilty when he shot the man who molested and killed the little missing boy Johnny
Pietro he didn’t feel like he did the right thing but Remy told him that it was
okay. Angie also told him that the man killed a kid therefore he deserved to
die. Patrick felt like everyone who was in on this kidnapping did wrong
especially captain Doyle. When he’s over at the Doyle’s the Captain was trying
to make Patrick feel guilty about calling the cops telling Patrick that he
knows that Amanda is better off here and that if he calls the cops he will have
to live with the fact that Amanda will be with damaged children of her
own. Patrick went on to say that He may
have to live with that and he will apologize but he will not apologize when a
little girl comes to him saying that she was kidnapped and the aunt hired him
to find her and he did. But He left her there and she will always wonder why he
never took her back home because in the end all the family trips never mattered
to her and he knew about it all along and never did anything about it. Even
though the movie seemed a little all over the place I feel like the movie was
more on an ethical absolutism side because of the way things ended. When Amanda
was taken back to her mother they showed that Helene hasn’t changed at all she’s
still the same person as before. Patrick comes over to visit and I assume he
notices that she has not changed as well. I feel Patrick thinks its his
responsibility now to keep an eye on Amanda since he was the one that made the
call to bring Amanda back home.

Blog 5: CATW PRACTICE 2

Our country since the 1960's has struggled to provide the uninsured, Undocumented and the poor with decent psychiatric care. In the article adapted from NewsWeek "The Woman Who Died in the Waiting Room." By Jeneen Interlandi. There was a patient by the name of Esmin Green who died in the waiting room of Broolyns largest psychiatric hospital under the eye of security cameras. The artcile talks about our country not being able to provide good psychiatric care for people who arent able to afford the luxuries of the insurance. It goes on to say that there is just no where to put the patients.

In the article it states "Public hospitals across the country have struggled to provide acute psychiatric care to the poor and uninsured since the early 1960's." I agree with this because its true not only has the country struggled with psychiatric care, but regular care and even in nusing homes. The country is always trying to advertise that we need to take good care of our health but how is that even possible? When we live in a country that cant even provide a decent health insurancce to psychiatric patients just because they are undocumented. This brings me back to an article I read about a bill being passed that illegal students can pay instate tuition in the state of Illinois. If students in that state can get away with education there then why isn't something like that happening for the whole country.

Psychiatric neglect to me is ridiculous. Why is the country outcasting people who aren't able to afford the benefits of health insurance. They shouldn't be left out of being able to recieve the same kind of care as people with insurance.

People in psychiatric hospitals with no insurance recieve the same treatment as people in regular health care, which makes no sense. Mentally Ill people if anything deserve more attention. Not just be thrown into different categories because they have no insurance. It seems like the hospitals mostly care about the people who are coming with the money. They don't really care about the well being of others. With all the money hospitals are supposeably making they should use that to open up new psychiatric hospitals.

REVISION CATW 1

Could you imagine attending a College or University in a different state that allows non-citizen immigrants to pay In-state tuition fees? In the passage An Education in Citizenship excerpted from the Chicago Tribune, Illinois passed a bill recently allowing people who live in the U.S. illegally to pay in state tuition rate. The state of Illinois was not too happy with the passing of this bill because they feel like citizenship is being thrown out the window. The uneven vote shows that this was an easy vote for some of the lawmakers, when in shouldn’t have been.

In the article the writer states, “The notion that someone can have no legal right to be present in the country but be entitled a very expensive and valuable benefit is absurd on its face.” What I think is absurd on its face is the fact that many students that are U.S. citizens don’t usually have a determination, a drive to go to college let alone even finish high school. I believe students that come from other countries have more of that determination to get ahead in life. Being in this country makes them want the best for their families. Rarely are they recognized with great opportunities to attend great schools or scholarships for whatever they want to study. Students that are U.S. citizens like my brother for example in high school loved playing football and ended up receiving a football scholarship at a really good university but decided not to go for it because he didn’t feel the need to go to college at all. He just wanted to be home, party, and work his regular job thinking eventually they will bump him up to a better position. Which they never did, he’s 23 and is just working a regular job at the mall with nothing to look forward to later on in his life.

I have a friend Sarahi who just last month graduated from LaGuardia Community College. It was not until we graduated from high school and started applying to colleges that she found out she was an immigrant. Any other person (citizen) running into a big problem with college applications or something similar would have probably given up. They would not have bothered with finishing the process, she didn’t. With the determination of proving a stereotype wrong that immigrants can't study and won’t get anywhere, she got help from a professor. This helped her land a scholarship to John Jay College of Criminal Justice. Not only did she not let anything stop her, she still has hopes of one day being able to study at Columbia University.

All students legal or illegal are allowed to attend schools from Pre-K all the way through high school. At those points in the children's lives we do not label them or treat them differently, everything is equal. A contradiction occurs when its time for college, in regards to tuition. While my friend Sarahi was a very determined student and found a way to pay high out of state tuition rate. Most are not fortunate enough to find ways to pay for their tuition. We make fools of these students by applying a double standard, giving them high hopes of a career and 12 years of schooling. Only to be left in the dust when it comes time for them to go to college. If citizenship was not an issue through high school, It certainly should not be an issue at college time. That is just hypocrisy.

Blog 4: CATW PRACTICE 1

Could you imagine living in a state where the University you go to allows non-citizen immigrants to pay In-state tuition fees? In the passage An Education in Citizenship excerpted from the Chicago Tribune, Illinois passed a bill recently allowing people who live in the U.S. illegally to pay in state tuition rate. The state of Illinois isn't too happy with the passing of this bill because for a freshmen going into the University of Illinois the difference is $5,302, The current in state rate versus the out of state rate which would be $13,906.The state of Illinois feels like citizenship is being thrown out the window because of this passing. It makes no sense that you're not allowed to be in this country but you are allowed an education for a price.

I dissagree with a the reaction of Illinois to the passing of this bill. Some citizen students in the U.S. don't even know how "lucky" they are to be able to live in a country where you have alot of educational oppurtunity. They take it all forgranted. I have a friend who just last month graduated from LAGCC. Until she graduated high school and started applying for colleges did she find out she was an immigrant. Any other person(citizen) running into a big problem with college applications or something similar would have probably given up, She didnt. With the determenation of beating the odds that immigrants can't study and it costs alot she got help from a professor which landed her a scholarship to John Jay. Not only did she not let nothing stop her she still has hope for being able to hopefully study one day at Columbia University.

Most citizens don't have that drive like Sarahi(my friend.) They just don't really go for oppurtunities like that. Right now their are students getting arrested for protesting for the passing of Dream Act. I believe that no one should be denied the right to an education if you already did kindergarten-high school why not be able to finish off citizen or not?
The bill they passed in Illinois I think should also be passed in NY as well.