please review my essays.....

[Brian]

Exam #2 (Non-Adaptive) 9/17/2007

AWA ESSAYS: ANALYSIS OF AN ISSUE
ESSAY QUESTION:
"In making a complex decision, one should trust experience more than instinct."

Discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree with the position stated above. Support your viewpoint using reasons and examples from your own experience, observations, or reading.


YOUR RESPONSE:
"In making a complex decision, one should trust experience more than instinct". A complex decision is defined as a decision with many components that are interwined to form one conglomerate. I fully agree that one should put precedence of experience over instinct.
Experience can be more helpful in a decision with great complexity. Experience is generally reptitive. What happens in the past is very likely to happen in the present or in the near future. As a result, one should use the experience that one has to solve his or her problems in the near future. For instance, one may have to make a decision on stock market options. Based on information technolgy experience, one would invest in certain stocks that he or she believes would be a solid investment, e.g. nasdaq investments. The stock market has proven that such investments are trustworthy and solid.
Instinct may be detrimental in a decision making process. It's quite likely that a person's instinct may be be completely wrong. It may cause a person to digress from his main objective. This may cause even more complexity to the decision than what it began with. A person's instinct may advise him to invest in stocks in the pharmaceutical industry. However such has an industry has proven to be poor in the stock exchange.
Finally, the "real world" rewards people for their experience. It doesn't reward people based on their instincts. One doesn't write his or her level of intution on a resume. Rather she would list the experiences and credentials she has gained over the years. For instance, Goldman Sachs, a highly competive company, recruits university students based on the experience that they have had in the past, e.g. internships, co-ops. Such a company rarely, if ever, recruits based on one's level of intuition.
In conclusion, I strongly believe a complex decision should be based on one's level of experience. One's intution may add more complexity to one's decision.


Exam #2 (Non-Adaptive) 9/17/2007

AWA ESSAYS: ANALYSIS OF AN ARGUMENT
ESSAY QUESTION:
The following appeared in a medical magazine:

"Art and music have long been understood to have therapeutic effects for individuals who suffer from either physical or mental illnesses. However, most doctors rarely recommend to patients some form of art or music therapy. Instead, doctors focus almost all of their attention on costly drug treatments and invasive procedures that carry serious risks and side-effects. By focusing on these expensive procedures rather than low-cost treatments such as art and music therapy, doctors are doing a disservice to their patients and contributing to the rising cost of health care in the United States."

Discuss how well reasoned you find this argument. Point out flaws in the argument's logic and analyze the argument's underlying assumptions. In addition, evaluate how supporting evidence is used and what evidence might counter the argument's conclusion. You may also discuss what additional evidence could be used to strengthen the argument or what changes would make the argument more logically sound.


YOUR RESPONSE:
The author's reasoning in this argument is flawed. The author ignores certain loop holes in the argument.
The author disregards the potency of the medicine vs. that of art and music. Like art and music, drug treatments can alleviate the effects of an illness. Yet, in addition to its therapeutic effects, drug treatments may be able to cure the actual illness of its patient. A patient infected with a bacterial infection may be able to rid his illness with a dosage of penicillin. That same patient cannot cure his bacterial infection by listening to his favorite jazz cd.
Secondly, the author fails to recognize the duty of the doctor. The duty of a doctor is to prescribe medicication. Anyone can tell a sick patient to go to the nearby art museum. Yet, a doctor's duty is to treat the patients with medicine.
Third, the author fails to recognize that art and music may cost as much as that of drug treatments. Many drug treatments are cost a minimal amount. Most patients have a health insurance that provides them with drug treatments with a nominal fee. Patients may have to pay as little as five dollars at the nearby pharmacy to help cure their illness. However, a ticket to broadway show in manhattan will cost up to as much as 200 dollars a seat. Clearly, the cost of medicine should not be an issue.
Lastly, the author mentions that drug treatments will contribute to the rising cost of the health care in the United States. The author fails to mention that if drug treatments are not available, more patients will be sick. If this is the case, then in the long run, there will be more people that will suffer from illnesses. This will indirectly cause even more health costs than that of today

[StaceyKoprince]

Hi, Brian - I'm sorry, but we no longer provide free essay review. We get such high traffic here that we had to cut a few services several months ago and this is one of the lesser-used areas. You can buy a review of your essays; the instructions to do this are in the "READ ME: FREE ESSAY GRADING SUSPENDED" sticky at the top of the essays folder.

If you have general questions about the essay section of the test, we will still respond to those for free.