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Truong,Wing-San

ENGL 213

September 30th, 2010

Introduction

Have you ever heard of stereotype? Stereotyping means someone who


standardized other by appearance or by association. In fact, people tend to
generalize and to associate a category of person as useless ones. Then, this
category of people will be rejected. In the essay of Anna Quindlen, the author
explains teenager’s bad behaviour which is attributed by rejection of people
who surrounded them: “the sound of C word in the hallways: crazy, man, he’s
crazy, haven’t you seen him, didn’t you hear?”(Quindlen346) By reading her
essay, I found that she associates teenager’s social problem with illness.

Summary

The essay called “The C Word in the hallways” written by Anna Quindlen
really points out a fact: In the last three decades, homicides and suicides
committed by teenagers have considerably increased. School shootings are
becoming a major problem in the United States for years. In the essay, the
author debates on the law and order concerning mental as a health care. This
fact raises a lot of questions about mental illness, teenage homicide and
suicide. She associates personal experience with mental problem. In many
high schools in United States, students have to pass through metal detectors
before getting in class. People think that building districts policies can
prevent children to do harm. Somehow, why student violence is becoming
more important today? What these people think in their head? Are they really
sick? Do we have to pay more attention to them in order to prevent student
violence? However, because of this important social problem, Anna Quindlen
wrote an essay to really highlight that those insurance providers, schools and
hospitals are responsible to mental illness among teenagers: “Insurance
providers should act like it. Hospitals and schools should act like it.”(Quindlen
346) She thinks that if teenagers have enough intervention and medication,
school shootings will not happen today.” And if only those things had
happened, Faith Kinkel, William Kinkel, Mikael Nickolauson, Ben Walker, and
Eddie Werner might allbe alive today”( Quindlen 346)

Assessment

The arguments presented by the author are quite accurate. She divided her
paragraphs very clearly. Her arguments are generally based on facts. Then,
she inserts her opinion in her article. By presenting her point of view about
the subject, which proves that she was alarmed about population’s attitude
toward mental illness. She blames school, insurance providers and hospitals
for the problems experienced by troubled teenagers. In brief, her article
appeals mostly emotional than rational. She uses a lot of questions to make
her readers think about the subject. Her tone used to persuade people is
consistent throughout the whole essay. Everything that she presented was to
convince readers to adopt her way of thinking.

My response to the article

Personally, I think that the author uses a method to change individual’s


attitudes and to influence government decisions concerning the law. She
manipulates her readers by expressing a concern. Her article is well written
but, too subjective. She uses enriched vocabulary to illustrate her main ideas.
I don’t really share the same idea as her. I think that it is hard to pay
attention to others psychological problem. We have our own life and we can’t
live for someone else. We can help these people but, if they don’t let us help,
then, we can’t do anything. I don’t think that studying deeply in someone’s
life can help them out. I believe that despite all the bad experience we have
during our life, we should know how to handle it. If they need help, they have
to ask for. Nobody can read in the mind of someone else. I think that schools,
insurance providers and hospitals are not responsible with teenager’s
homicide and suicide.

Conclusion

The article of Anna Quindlen is very interesting because she shows a


perspective of laws based on the health system that I have never known
before reading it. She structures her essay in order to make her reader to
analyse the bad situation on school shootings. I found that interesting
because it is not only the United States that have this social problem. In
2006, an ex-student of Dawson College has committed school shooting in the
college. It is a recent topic and it is important to see people’s point of view
about these tragedy. Although I’m not totally agreed with her opinions, I think
that we are facing an alarming situation because school shootings are
becoming an epidemic.(Quindlen 343) People should try to solve this problem
among youths.

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