Reflection

Reflection

Different forms of writing are consistent and still being developed. Knowing different forms of writing and creativity got me interested in it. Personally, I enjoy writing story forms than essays but writing better involves learning more techniques writing issues. Essay forms with informative and contrasts are simpler for me to use but the one essay that I have more trouble is the argument essay. I have an ambiguous nature that coincides against argumentive essays. When at the end of the essay the writer tells which side they are on it becomes difficult for me to choose. English 201 is the class that was not easy since the papers written were all argumentive. As much as I worked on the argumentive I’m still falling short with the argument.

The part of this class that I have benefited from the most is words and phrasings. I did not use it much as I wanted to but it is a list to keep for future uses. There is a list that I want to have but have not found and that is passive, present and future tenses. Without the word tense list the difficulty of writing an essay while avoiding certain tenses is improbable. In one of the functions of Word there is an option to have Word put a green underline on passive phrases. It didn’t give a list of the verb tenses but it is better than nothing.

The Argument Essay we first wrote for the class certainly acted as a running start. I was confused what form of essay it was and when we were directed to OwlPurdue on the list of essay forms I chose the informative essay. A mistake I corrected but it is embarrassing turning in an incorrect form essay. Everything else in the class didn’t compare with the mistake, one that won’t be made easy next time.

The Critical Theory Essay intrigued me the most out of the other essays. Unfortunately, the essay form was an argumentive but the argumentive combined a story and the history the story took form. Two pages into the “Ideas” story I instantly connected it to the old story about the Pied Piper of Hamelin. Both stories took place in Germany and in one form of the Pied Piper story the Piper led the children away from the village like in “Ideas” with Peter drawing the children to him. Combining the history to “Ideas” was challenging but what made it difficult is the argument element that turned the assignment upside down.

Argument Issue Essay had a broad topic search. An argument that college students see as imperative to them is not easy to choose unless it concerned the writer. The topic I chose concerned financial aid, giving reasons why I did not go to college for a few years after graduating high school. Other than running short on time there is nothing further to say about that essay.

I had an interesting time in English 201 but it certainly made me sweat. Having a classmate that was also taking another English class as me was surprising. Ironic that we found that out during the story we posted in the Discussion Board since we are taking the creative writing English class pertaining to stories. The blog is an assignment that I will not say I like. A good opportunity of trying new things but I never tried Facebook or MySpace because I am a private person. The thought of people I don’t know seeing my picture and reading about me is not an entertaining thought. This is an experience that I will remember.

Argument Issue Essay

College & Burdens

Evelyn Williams

Argument Issue Essay

Leslie Jewkes

English 201-002W

College of Western Idaho

May 6, 2013

Abstract

The issue of this essay is composed around financial aid. Financial aid is one of the primary issues regarding education and a basis for future careers. The argument surrounding this topic is students should be prepared to bear the burden of claiming financial aid since it impacts there future in more than one ways. The financial aid is seen as a relief to those with little means to obtain a college degree and some view financial aid as an overwhelming pressure. The disputes between those claiming financial aid are good to those that see it as stressful are given. Despite the changes the financial aid hands to students there are still issues whether the student can handle it. The argument shows the two sides, claiming how the student should be thoughtful on their approach to the subject.

College & Burdens

People attending colleges or universities are growing in numbers every day. People ranging from fresh high school graduates to elders that are returning students attend colleges. The increase in students attending college is due to the requirements of a college degree for jobs and the availability of financial aid. With financial aid, students are capable of attending college to gain the degree of their choice for their chosen profession. With more people gaining higher education the competition for jobs is rising. Financial aid sounds simple and easy to use but in fact is difficult in general. Financial aid is good for people in need of it, however, only those prepared to take on the responsibilities should take financial aid. The weight of having financial aid can outweigh the benefits regarding it.

Financial aid is a program designed by the government to aid students in gaining higher education.  “The federal government began to share the responsibility with states for subsidizing college students in order to ensure equal opportunity to attend college” (Chen & St. John, p.1). In short, financial aid is student loans used in the period the student enrolls in the college until the student graduates or drops-out of their college. Getting started with financial aid “the Free Application for Federal Student Aid—FAFSA—is the starting point for all students who want financial aid” (Handel, p.12). During the time, the student attends college the loans they can be used to gain tools for study, housing and food expenses as well as use it at their discretion. In the process of applying for financial aid, the information inputted about the student’s living conditions and finance generates an estimate of funds require for the student. With the fixed amount the student accepts the loans but it is their own decision how they use it. Continuing using the student’s loans there is a requirement on the student’s grades they must get. After the student graduates, there is a six-month period the student searches for a job before they start paying back those loans. (Evans Consulting, 2013)

When students graduate high school, they have few options to choose from. Most families and teachers advise the students of entering colleges for higher education. Some graduates choose finding work instead of college because of the money that is needed to enter college. In the career options the student who has only a high school diploma is often pushed aside for the employee that holds the most job experience and has a college degree. Many are unable to gain a job when competing against other employees who have diplomas. Since employees with little job experience and have no diplomas are able to get minimum pay jobs or jobs at all they usually need attend college for that degree. If the student can obtain a scholarship, they are able to attend the college but without the scholarship, they must pay out of their own pocket. Tuition for most colleges is expensive and when a student wants to go to college they usually go through financial aid. With the help of financial aid, the students can gain the diploma to obtain a job.  (Evans Consulting, 2013)

Going to college is a way of students readying themselves for the working world. Most college students are usually eighteen years old and fresh out of high school. They can go live out at the dorms of universities that have dorms and learn what it is like to live on their own. “Student’s attend college to gain knowledge and skills for obtaining employment and for graduate school admissions” (Walpole p.52). Sometimes parents are able to help pay for the tuition of the college or university but most students get jobs or rely on financial aid.  “A college education is a massive investment that is intended to shape your future” (Coplin p.3).

With the help of financial aid the students can get the items to help them throughout college. Financial aid also benefits supporting a family when money is tight and jobs are hard to come by. After the student inputs the family’s finance, the program for applying for financial aid generates an estimate of how much money is acquired to help the student through their college years. Bills for rent, food and other expenses can be paid by using financial aid.

With the rate for more degrees necessary for the job requirements, the type of degree is also in demand. “The overall share of employment opportunities requiring a high school diploma or less gets smaller” and the need for a degree increases (Carnevale, Smith, Stone, Kotamraju, Steuernagel, & Green, p. 8). Bachelors and Associate degrees are the most sought after degrees in jobs but when most employees have the degree the competition will rise. It is a way to weed out prospected employees between a good employee and a better employee. The longer the student needs to remain in college for their degree the more financial aid they require. The employees with bachelor degrees are in high demand compared to the associates’ degree. The graph below shows an example between two types of jobs and the education requirements.

One of the many reasons a student may hesitate getting financial aid is paying back the loans. After six months loans needs to start getting paid off. However, the loans can be paid for a little amount of money each month it makes paying it off longer. “College tuition is likely to continue to increase at both private and public schools” (Coplin, p.2). With the tuition increasing the loans needed also increase causing the student’s debt to raise higher. Unless the student plans carefully and is prepared to undertake the burden of the loans the student may find themselves under more pressure than before they started college.

Finding a job to pay off the debt is strenuous and not always achieved even after getting the degree. What employers search for in the potential employees isn’t just the degree but the also the experience along with the attributes the employee may have. Sitting for an interview to answer the employer’s questions help give them an understanding what type of employee is. There are some graduates who “took a job that paid a lot less than they expected to earn after they graduated” (Godofsky, Zukin, & Van Horn, p.7). The paperwork to fill out the financial aid is a time consuming task and the stress of school can cause the student to become ill. As stress is the most fatal to the human body, adding the need to get high enough grades while planning for future careers and holding a job at the same time is stressful. Knowing the full weight of the burden of financial aid “is more likely to increase…anxieties than relieve them” (Handel, p.11).

Benefits in getting financial aid are small and big but the misfortunes of having financial aid are the same. Society continues to grow as does the complications added to it. The more education the more requirements of that education is to have jobs. The mental pressures of financial aid can grow until it is too heavy for the students to bear the responsibilities. In trying to gain a better education to obtain a better career for their life it helps them in the long run but if the student is not careful it can backfire.

Works Cited

Carnevale, A., Smith, N., Stone, J., Kotamraju, P., Steuernagel, B., & Green, K. (2011). Career Clusters: Forecasting Demand for High School through College Jobs 2008-2018. Lumina Foundation for Education.

Chen, R., & St. John, E. (2011). State Financial Policies and College Student Persistence: A National Study. Journal of Higher Education, 629-660.

Coplin, B. (2012). 10 Things Employers Want You To Learn In College. New York: Berkeley.

Evans Consulting. (2013). Resources. Retrieved May 5, 2013, from https://ecgroupllc-web.sharepoint.com/Public/Resources/FinancialAidPerspectives/Pages/History.aspx?mobile=0

Godofsky, J., Zukin, C., & Van Horn, C. (2011). Unfulfilled Expectations: Recent College Graduates Struggle in a Troubled Economy. John J. Heldrich Center for Workforce Development, 41.

Handel, S. J. (2008). Aid and Advocacy: Why Community College Transfer Students Do Not Apply for Financial Aid and How Counselors Can Help Them Get in the Game. Journal of College Admission, 8-16.

Walpole, M. (2007). Economically and Educationally Challenged Students in Higher Education: Access to Outcomes. Hoboken: Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Critical Theory Essay

“Ideas” Reflection of History

Evelyn Williams

Critical Theory

Leslie Jewkes

English 201-002W

April 22, 2013

Abstract

The essay focuses on the story “Ideas” by Patricio Pron with the literary theory of Historicism. The story closely relates to the post-war society of a small town in East Germany before the unification in 1991. The elements drawn forth in the story are the economy, the society and the government. The economy after the war lacked in resources and hard labor came by working in farms. With the society, how the people were treated and how they adjusted to the times in order to survive. The views of the government were shown in the story how little they thought of them. The story “Ideas” presented when a boy named Peter became similar to the Pied Piper of Hamelin but with a different ending.

Published in 2009 and translated from Spanish by Mara Faye Lethen, Patricio Pron’s short story “Ideas” was writing in the time before Germany unified in 1990. The characters of the story are between the narrator and Peter Mӧhlendorf, who similarly relates to the Pied Piper of Hamelin. Set in East Germany in a small village, the story follows the events that tell of Peter’s involvement and the living conditions during that time. Peter became the Pied Piper that leads the children from the village where no parents are able to find them. This brings about the fear and hopelessness of losing the children. Tied similarly to Pied Piper, the story “Ideas” opens up the fear and confusion the events brings much like after the post-war.

The narrator of the story starts with an introduction to the stories antagonist, Peter with “little Peter Mӧhlendorf, who everyone called der schwarze Peter, ‘black Peter” (Pron p.316). There is no explanation to why Peter is given this name but as the story progresses the reader begins to understand the reason. The next sentence shows an insight hold the village’s main resource by stating in the story, “East German town of Magdeburn who main economic activity is farming — asparagus, mostly” (Pron p.316) The post-war of Germany, the nation was split up and separate nations took them over. The economic industry was fallen that left little choice to the people living there to seek work in farmlands. When comparing the heavy labor and the disappearing children gives the adults a harsh reality. As the Piper, Peter brings along the children with him away from such reality.

“The authorities of the so-called Democratic Republic of Germany”(Pron p.317) is a criticism on the government and told how the people of this time felt about it. Nazi’s and other offenders mainly left unpunished continued to roam freely after the war. As part of the rural areas, it is stated “in the forest, which was the only place that held any potential for danger in or near the town” when the villagers search for Peter after he disappeared. They doubted any accident within the town with the belief that it is impossible. This belief shows the townspeople believe no one in the town can cause an act of violence. The thought that goes through each mind of the parents are of their children. Their worries grown and make up an idea that Peter “gotten lost in the woods” as a way of coping with their worries. With the idea of theirs, they focus on it like a lifeline.

Peter is by himself with many of the parents and the police searching for him though none are able to find him. The ways they searched are not sufficient in their worry and when they bring in the police, the search is still unhelpful. When Peter’s mother comes, she tells them “she had seen Peter crouched on the hill behind their yard” (Pron p.318). The way Peter runs tells that he does not want to be caught but it shows that it is not as if he does not want to be found. The idea that he is alive gives the parents relief that he is not hurt but it confounds them. As the narrator describes “a reflection or prolongation” (Pron p.319). There is nothing to suggest a reason for his actions. No solid conclusion of what Peter’s thoughts may be. The parents are left without knowing why Peter isn’t returning home or why he evades them.

The first scare from Peter’s disappearance fades only to bring another scare tied in with confusion. Two children disappeared with Peter then others begin to follow him. Like the Pied Piper calling children, Peter “gained influence over the other children in the town and was dragging them along with him” (Pron p.319). Perhaps the children saw something in Peter that pulled them towards him. Not knowing how, the parents begin to drag their children inside, locking them up as a way of relieving their fears. However, “the children always managed to get out anyway” (Pron p.319) despite their tries. The fears grow on the minds of the parents yet none of the children showed such fear. Whether they were curious or elevated by Peter did not show but instead only the actions of the parents were. When a strong or an ideal leader rises, those beneath them cannot help but drawn to him.

When people became too used to misfortunate events they start to accept it and treat it as an everyday life. “This parenthesis seemed to offer a new normality comprised of disappearances that, in their proliferation, we feared would eventually make us indifferent to them” (Pron p.320). The post war events in East Germany caused misfortune and in the end, the people lived a life of hard labor. By not adapting people would break under pressure and fast changes but it may look as though they don’t care. The parent’s in “Ideas” adapted to their fears by accepting their children’s disappearances. “All kids, imaginary or not, were just an idea of their parents and, like ideas, could be forgotten or set aside when another better idea arrived” (Pron p.320). Sometimes, cold or not, it is a way to survive.

None found the children or caught them. The townspeople gave up and treated it as “a substantial and incomprehensible part of life in the so-called Democratic Republic of Germany” (Pron p.321). The Democratic Republic of Germany sought making a Five Year Plan that failed the first time but they still tried again. Have the farms grow high quality crops, have more labor and ways of making East Germany a better country after the post-war. Other than trying to live, the best way they could the people of East Germany did not accept or refute the government’s plan. Perhaps they were tired with the hard labor or they did not care anymore and yet some complained about such life despite not changing it themselves.

The changes inflicted on a once whole country that was split, people reacted about it their own way. Some tried to get involved in the government, some ignored it and some just tried to live the best way they were able. Years after the change in the country, many became used to it but the disappearances of the children cause yet another conflict. The townspeople wrought with fear for their newly accustomed life they sought ways to keep it from falling apart. When it was too much they accepted it with indifference just like they did before. At last at the end of the “Ideas” short story, Peter and the children come back like nothing ever happened. Instead of celebrating their return, the people of the town continued like nothing happened as well.

Works Cited

Ashliman, Professor D.L. The Pied Piper of Hameln. 19 March 2013. 9 April 2013 <http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/hameln.html>.

Congress, Library of. A Country Study: Germany, East (Former). 27 July 2010. 9 April 2013 <http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/gxtoc.html>.

Facts About Germany. The two German states. April 2013. 9 April 2013 <http://www.tatsachen-ueber-deutschland.de/en/history/main-content-03/1949-1990-the-two-german-states.html>.

German Culture. The Birth of the German Democratic Republic. 2012. 9 April 2013 <http://www.germanculture.com.ua/library/history/bl_gdr.htm>.

Libros Deespana. Patricio Pron. 2012. 9 April 2013 <http://www.newspanishbooks.com/author/patricio-pron>.

Pron, Patricio. "Ideas." Eggers, Dave and David Sedaris. The Best American Nonrequired Reading. Bostan: Mariner, 2010. 484.

Arguementive Essay

Evelyn Williams

Leslie Jewkes        

English 002W 201

April 20, 2013

Placebo or Not

Take a young man in his early to mid-twenties whose is always getting sick with no real cause. He goes to a doctor and the doctor tests him but finds no problems yet the young man still complains about his symptoms. The doctor still sees nothing causing the trouble and decides to have him take placebo so the young man will feel satisfied. The young man takes the placebo as required from his doctor and expecting the medication to work, he starts to feel better in a matter of days. This is one of many examples of using placebo. A 'sugar pill' that has no drugs or medicine designed to help the body but instead uses mind over matter known as a placebo. The placebo is not a miracle drug that will cure anything or anyone, it is an effect that relieves symptoms temporarily. Placebo is a medicine not based on drugs despite the mysteries about it, it is an effective use of medicine.

One definition of describing placebo, by Julio Rocha do Amaral and Renato M.E. Sabbatini, is “Placebo is any treatment devoid of specific actions on the patient’s symptoms or diseases that, somehow, can cause an effect upon the patient.” Though the placebo existed for centuries, it was not until the 20th century that people started to question and research it. As technology advances new research methods are opening up and “extensive laboratory research has been undertaken to elucidate neurobiological mechanisms of placebo effect” (Millar). The reason for this is that the effect of placebo is still a mystery still unexplained. With taking placebo it can shortly relieve symptoms and is “thought to have something to do with the body’s chemical ability” (American Cancer Society). Currently there are two main ways that the placebo is used. A doctor can prescribe the medicine to the patient and pharmaceuticals use placebo as a way of testing their new medicines before putting them out of the market.

Distributing medicines in the market, Pharmaceuticals continue developing new medicines against their competitors. Testing medicines before sending them out on the market is required and must go through clinical trials. In clinical trials placebo’s has effectiveness. Separating volunteers into two groups for testing new medicine made by the pharmaceuticals, the doctors either use a medicine out on the market or placebo. The clinical trials have one group use the new medicine while the second group uses the second medicine. Using two different medicines, it is testing how effective the new medicine compared to the other medicine. Neither group knows which of the two medicines they are using as a way to keep it truthful. The doctors record the results of the two groups and calculate the effectiveness. When using the placebo as the second medicine it is normally difficult to have a higher result of the new medicine compared to the placebo. However, obtaining higher results against the placebo tells how well the new medicine is. (Dubinsky and Friedman)

Having a higher goal is good but at the same time it is difficult and too much. Placebo has a higher rate than most when using it in clinical trials. Silberman stated in his writing, “highly anticipated medical breakthrough…undone in recent years by the placebo effect” break pharmacy industries after years of creating new medicines. Even if the new medicine does well so does the placebo causing disputes over whether taking placebo is easier than taking the new medicine. Over time, placebo use rate has risen. “It’s  not that the old meds are getting weaker, drug developers say. It’s as if the placebo effect is somehow getting stronger” (Silberman p.33). While pharmacy industries compete with each other they have also compete against placebos. Placebos do not need refined but other medinces that have been around for decades are suddenly in need of being redeveloped. With all the research on placebos there are still many mysterious about it and they remain a problem for pharmacy industries. 

Using placebo to test medicines is highly effective way of using placebo but that is a not the only effective way. Placebo is acting as a normal medicine bought at a pharmacy or at a store in the medicine section in the store. Taking it can help relieve “things like pain, insomnia, depression, anxiety, functional bowel disorders, functional urinary disorders” (Kaptchuk). “The placebo looks, tastes, or feels just like the actual treatment” so that the placebo doesn’t seem different with the actual treatment (ACS). It’s not only confined taking placebo as a medicine but as stated in Ira’s interview with Kaptchuk, “it's really the encounter with the doctor and all the trappings of the office and being taken care of that - is the action that is actually helping the patient and making the patient feel better.” So it is not just the form the placebo is taken but the actions used with it.

Like any other medicine, placebo has side effects. Placebo’s effectiveness depends on the patient and this includes the side effects. Having a negative effect with taking placebo is “the nocebo effect, in which a person has more symptoms or side effects after a placebo” (ACS). The nocebo effect can enhance the patients occurring symptoms. From studies of the placebo’s effect on the mind “pain is more intense when a person expects more pain than when they don’t” (ACS). Knowing there are chances of having the nocebo effect after taking the placebo there is also the morality of deceiving patients. The patients taking placebo without their knowledge see it as a deception and an underhanded way of giving them a different medicine. There was an ethical research and investigations into the deceptive use of placebos for use of research studies. Recently in an experiment, “adopted authorized deception…which suggest that this approach may become more widely used” (ACS).

The placebo still not completely understood but has high effects despite not knowing everything about it. Since using placebo in clinical trials helps to test new medicines, the effect of placebo can have a higher success rate than the testing product. The drug that is being testing is supposed to help the patients’ symptoms or diseases and with the belief, the patient taking placebo can do better than the actual medicine. There are no changes with taking placebo knowingly or unknowingly that shows how effective the placebo becomes depending on the patient taking it. From the way, they use placebo many can bring out the effectiveness of the “sugar pill”.

Works Cited

American Cancer Society(ACS). "Placebo Effect." 4 October 2012. American Cancer Society. 26 February 2013 <http://www.conacer.org/treatment/treatmentsandsideeffects/treatmenttypes/placeboeffect>.

Dubinsky, Richard and Joseph H. Friedman. "The placebo effect." 26 August 2008. Neurology. 26 2 2013 <http://www.neurology.org/content/71/9/e25.full>.

Kaptchuk, Ted. One Scholar's Take On The Power of The Placebo Ira Flatow. 6 January 2012.

Millar, Franklin G. "The Placebo Effect: Ethical and Conceptual Issues." 2010. Department of Bioethics. 26 February 2013 <http://www.bioethics.nih.gov/research/placebo.pdf>.

Rocha do Amaral, Julio and Renato M.E. Sabbatini. "Placebo Effect: The Pwer of the Sugar Pill." 25 July 1999. Cerebromente. 26 February 2013 <http://www.cerebromente.org.br/n09/mente/placebo1_i.htm>.

 Silberman, Steve. "The Placebo Problem." Groopman, Jerome. The Best American Science Writing. New York: HarperCollinsPublishers, 2010. 31-44.w