Transcript The Value of Life

The Value of Life
Expository Reading and Writing Unit
Getting Ready to Read : Quick Write – Before
you read about what others say about the value
of life, take a few minutes to respond in writing to
the following quickwrite prompt:
What does being alive mean to you? How do you
assign value to life? What makes life
challenging? What makes it worth living?
Describe a few examples that help to show your
thinking about how people should value life.
Introducing Key Concepts
Because each of the texts in this module
defines “life” in its own way, it will be helpful for
you to examine the concept of “life” before
reading the texts.
To do this, you will create a concept map for
“life” in your table group.
Please fold your paper in half both ways to
create four square boxes.
Concept: Life
Sentence: It is difficult to place a precise value on human life.
Synonyms:
Vitality
Living……what else?
Existence
Animate
State of being
fertile
Consciousness
Coherence
Drawing breath
Alive
Energy
Human being
presence
Contexts:
Medical
Legal/penal……what else?
Moral
Religious
Societal
Personal
Professional
Economic
Autobiography
biograpy
Examples:
Lifestyle
Life’s work…..what else?
Life savings
Eternal life
Meaning of life
Circle of life
Life sentence
Life story
Non-Examples
Death
Inactivity……what else?
After life
Lifeless
Passing
Non=existence
Nothingness
Sterile
Concept Map: LIFE
(add 4 more answers to each of the examples provided)
Concept: Life
Synonyms:
vitality, living, energy, ...what else can you think of?
Examples:
lifestyle, life’s work, life partner, ...what else?
Contexts:
medical, legal/penal, religious, economic, ...what
else?
Non-examples (antonyms):
death, inactivity, inanimate objects, ...what else?
Surveying the Text
1. What prior experience have you had reading these
articles?
2. What did you notice about the page format and
annotations?
3. What did you notice about the text structure?
Making Predictions And
Asking Questions?
1. What is tragedy? What themes and outcomes
would you expect to find in a tragedy?
2. What do you know about the language in plays
written by Shakespeare? What have you done in the
past to help yourself read Shakespeare effectively?
3. The soliloquy here begins with a famous quotation:
“To be, or not to be-that is the question.” What do you
think is “the question” Hamlet is asking? How do you
think he might answer it?
Adding to your vocabulary
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1. Soliloquy: a long speech made by a character who is alone on the stage in
which he reveals his innermost thoughts and feelings.
2. Tragedy: a drama or other work that depicts the downfall or destruction of a
character as a result of his/her tragic flaw
3. Tragic Hero: the main character of a tragedy who is usually of noble birth, or
is high ranking and has many positive attributes. They usually meet a fateful end
due to their tragic flaw but always come to self-realization and wisdom as a
result.
4. Tragic Flaw : a personality flaw or an error in judgment that ultimately leads
to a character’s death or destruction.
5. Iambic Pentameter: A metrical pattern in poetry which consists of 5 iambic
feet per line (an iamb consists of one unstressed syllable followed by a stressed
syllable)
Key Vocabulary
Polar Opposite: An important rhetorical device
Shakespeare uses in Hamlet’s soliloquy is antithesis.
Hamlet explores a series of oppositional relationships.
Brainstorm at least one oppositional word for the
terms listed below.
TERMS:
1. oppression
2. action
3. endurance
4. mystery
5. life
Key
Vocabulary
Word Families: List as many words as possible that are related
to the following five concepts from Hamlet’s soliloquy. You may
include synonyms directly from the text along with any other
words you believe are related to the concept. Word families are
not simply lists of synonyms; they may include any sets of words
that frequently appear together.
example: resolution: end (line 5), consummation (line 8), will
(line 25), decision, outcome, and result
1. action:
2. thought:
3. suffering:
4. mortality:
5. fear:
First Reading
Read the soliloquy from Hamlet. Although it is quite short, it
packs much meaning into its 33 lines You may need to read it
more than once before you feel you have good grasp on the
ideas it contains.
Background: At this point in the play, Hamlet feels that he is in a
crisis. His father died a few months earlier under mysterious
circumstances. Hamlet discovers that his father was secretly
murdered-by Hamlet’s uncle, Claudius. Making things even
worse, Claudius then marries Hamlet’s mother. Hamlet does not
know what to do about this knowledge. He wonders whether he
can trust anyone or if perhaps he is going crazy.
As you read the text, focus on what you see the as the “big
picture” Hamlet describes. Based on this first reading, would you
say that Hamlet is an optimist or a pessimist? What are you
reasons for thinking so?
Rereading The Text and Looking
Closely at the Language:
Because this series of texts focuses on the way
people value life, you will now need to take a second
look at the soliloquy. This time, read with a highlighter
or colored ink or pencil, marking the places in the text
where Hamlet describes what it means to be alive.
Example: In lines two and three, Hamlet describes life
as “the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,” so
you could mark that phrase as an example of what
Hamlet thinks it means “to be.”
Rereading The Text and Looking Closely
at the Language:
Characterizing the text: Take a look at the parts of the
soliloquy you have highlighted and compare them
with a classmate’s markings. Find a few examples
that you both have marked and mark the examples
with a “+” or “-” to indicate whether the example how
a positive (+) outlook on life or a negative (-) one. For
the example about-”the slings and arrows of
outrageous fortune”-you would mark a “-” because it
compares being alive to being under attack. After you
have marked several such examples, reflect on the
question asked earlier: At this moment, does it seem
as if Hamlet is an optimist or a pessimist?
Rereading The Text and Looking Closely
at the Language:
Paraphrasing the Text: Continuing to work with your partner,
choose three of your samples and paraphrase them.
“Paraphrasing” means putting the ideas of another writer into
your own words. Again using the “slings and arrows of
outrageous fortune” example, a paraphrase might sound
something like this: “Hamlet compares being alive to having fate
shoot arrows at him.” As you paraphrase, pay attention to the
style used by Shakespeare to convey his ideas. What is the
difference between having Hamlet saying that life is like “the
slings and arrows of outrageous fortune” and having him just
say, “Life isn’t very pleasant”? What are the effects of
Shakespeare’s stylistic choices as a writer?
Postreading
We identified the genre earlier as a drama, but more specifically,
this is a soliloquy. As noted earlier, a soliloquy is a dramatic
convention that allows a character to speak aloud his or her
thoughts. From your reading of the soliloquy, answer the
following questions.
1. Does the soliloquy form seem to favor the expression of
emotion (pathos) or logic (logos)? Explain why you think so.
2. Does Hamlet’s soliloquy use emotion (pathos) to create a
specific effect on the reader? If so, describe how emotion is
used.
3. Does Hamlet’s soliloquy use logic (logos) to create a specific
effect on the reader? If so, describe how the logic is used.
Postreading
4. When Hamlet speaks his soliloquy, he is in crisis. How do his
circumstances position Hamlet to speak with authority (ethos)
about the value of life? Does Hamlet seem to be speaking about
this life in particular or about the quality of life in general?
5. As careful readers, we are of course aware that it is not really
Hamlet speaking, but a character created by Shakespeare. Does
Shakespeare seem like someone whose opinions and attitudes
are worth considering? Why?
Charting Multiple Text
(CMT): Homework
Take a look at the chart constructed for this assignment. It is a
“graphic organizer” -a fancy name for something that helps you
keep track of various pieces of information and the relationships
among those pieces. The chart will prove useful in the writing
assignment you will complete at the end of this module.
CMT directions
As you look down the side of the chart, you will see that it asks
you for information about the different texts you will be reading in
this assignment: title, author, genre
The title and author are self-explanatory: “genre” means “type,”
so you are asked to describe the type of writing. For this first
text, you wold put “drama” or “play” as the genre.
Across the top of the chart are the ideas you will be tracking as
you read the texts in this module. They are presented in the form
of questions:
CMT directions Q’s
What is the text’s big issue?
-this asks you to identify the “main idea” of the text.
What claim does the text make?
-This ask you to identify the writers perspective on the main
idea.
What are examples or quotes from the text?
-This is where you would put examples given by the writer to
help the reader understand his or her claim. The quotes and
paraphrases you worked on earlier will fit well here. Be sure to
include page or line numbers (or both) to identify where you
found the quote or idea.
CMT directions Q’s
What do you think about the text’s claim?
-In this box, you will explain your response to the text’s claim,
including to what extent (if any) you agree with it.
What are your examples?
-Give a few examples from your own experiences that help
explain your response to the text’s claim.
How does this text connect to other texts?
-If you see a similarity to another text, make note of it here.
Connections can be made even among texts that have very
different claims.
Take a few moments to fill in the chart of Hamlet’s soliloquy. The
final box on making connections may be left blank for the
moment.
It’s Not About the Bike
Prereading
Surveying the Text: The second text is an except form
It’s Not About the Bike: My Journey Back to Life by
Lance Armstrong with Sally Jenkins. The excerpt you
will read is from the book’s opening chapter. Prior to
reading, try to answer the questions below. They are
designed to hep you activate your schema, which is a
technical term that means you generate some prior
knowledge so you will be ready to read and
comprehend more actively.
Surveying the Text continued
1. What do you know about Lance Armstrong?
2. What is the significance of the fact that the book
was written by Armstrong with Sally Jenkins?
3. What kind of text-what genre-do you think this book
is?
MPAQ
The following questions will help you make specific
predictions about the content of Armstrong’s text:
What topics do you think Armstrong might talk about
that are related to the issues of how society values
life?
Do you think Armstrong’s claim about the value of life
will agree with Hamlet’s or not?
Vocabulary
Skim for and highlight unfamiliar words.
Be prepared to identify paragraph # and sentence to
share them with me. They will be your vocabulary
words.
First Reading
Read the text by Armstrong. As you read, pay
attention to the way Armstrong talks about the value
of human life. As you did with Hamlet, try to
determine whether Armstrong appears to be generally
pessimistic or optimistic in this passage. In addition,
answer this question: Does Armstrong also present
an argument about the value of death?
RTLCL
Strategic Marking of the Text: Highlight, as you did
with the Shakespeare text, you will mark Armstrong’s
text. This time, use a different colored highlighter or
color pencil (or other method) to mark the text
differently than you did with the soliloquy. Mark the
sentences, phrases, or words Armstrong uses to
describe what he thinks it means to be alive.
Rereading the Text and Looking Closely at the
Language
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Third pass – Go through the text once more with a
different color. Imagine you are reading the text from
Hamlet’s perspective. Highlight any passages that
Hamlet would find particularly interesting or
compelling.
The Mock Interview
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Armstrong and Hamlet provide quite a different perspectives
on the meaning and value of life. Working with a partner,
envision a scenario in which Hamlet and Armstrong have an
opportunity to interview each others.
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Choose which partner will be which author
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Write 5 interview questions that author will ask the other.
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When you have written the questions, take on the persona
of your author and conduct the interviews. Be sure to give
answers that are in keeping with the points of view
provided in the two texts.
When finished, discuss the relative viewpoints of the
characters.
Postreading Thinking Critically
Armstrong’s text is an autobiography. As with the soliloquy we
examined earlier, the form of this writing has an effect on how it is
read and understood. The questions below will help you assess
Armstrong’s text:
An autobiography is a form of nonfiction - a text that tells the
“truth.” Do you think Armstrong is being truthful in his account of
his life? Explain your reasoning.
Armstrong’s autobiography is written “with” Sally Jenkins. What
role do you think Jenkins played in the writing of the text? How
does her participation in the creation of the text influence your
interpretation of Armstrong’s story? In other words, how does the
combination of Armstrong and Jenkins as authors affect the
“ethos” of the text?
Postreading Thinking Critically
Do you think Armstrong’s story has an impact on the
reader because of its use of logic (logos) or emotion
(pathos) or both?
Unlike Hamlet, Armstrong is not in the midst of his crisis
when he writes his story; instead, he writes about his
experiences in hindsight. Does that have an impact on
Armstrong’s ability to make his ideas and story
compelling to the reader? Explain your reasoning.
CMT: Homework
For homework: make an entry in your chart for the
Armstrong text. Fill it out as you did with the soliloquy.
When you reach the entry for “How does this text
connect to other texts?”, briefly describe the ways in
which Armstrong responds to or challenges the
assertions Shakespeare makes in his soliloquy for
Hamlet.
“What Is a Life Worth?”
by Amanda Ripley
Surveying the Text: The article “What Is a Life
Worth?” comes from the February 11, 2002, issue of
Time magazine. Take a look at its form and length.
How much time do you think it will take to read this
piece? Have you read anything from Time magazine?
What do you know about that publication? What kinds
of articles are commonly included in it? What types of
people do you think compose the magazine’s primary
readership?
MPAQ
What predictions can you make about the article’s
content from this subtitle?
What connections do you think you might see
between this article and the previous two texts you
have read?
The first two texts took first-person perspectives on
the subject. Do you anticipate that this article will
continue in that vein, or will it be different? Why do
you think so?
Vocabulary
Skim for and highlight unfamiliar words.
Be prepared to identify paragraph # and sentence to
share them with me. They will be your vocabulary
words.
First Reading
As you read “What Is a Life Worth?” for the first time,
look for the main issues and the various stances
people take in response to those issues. Be sure to
also look for connections to the idea of valuing life
and to what was previously said about valuing life by
Shakespeare and Armstrong.
How is “life” defined in this text? For example, does
“life” refer to a human body, a soul, a human
experience, existence, or quality of life? Does this
definition include a person’s personal life and
professional or working life?
Rereading
Strategic Marking of the Text: Choose two colors or
different ways to the mark the text and revisit the text
of the article on the 9/11. The two method of marking
the text will be used to mark two different aspects of
the article. With the first method, highlight the words,
phrases, and sentences form the article that describe
valuing life in legal and financial terms. With the
second color, high light the words, phrases, and
sentences that describe valuing life in human and
emotional terms.
Post Reading
Most news articles such as “What Is a Life Worth?” try
to take an objective, unbiased approach. Would you
agree that this text is unbiased, or do you think it
favors one perspective? Explain your answer.
What kinds of evidence does Ripley, The author of
the article, use to get across the key ideas and issues
associated with the compensations of 9/11 victims
and their families? Are any specific types of evidence
more compelling to you as a reader? Less
compelling?
Post Reading
How accurate do you think the information in the
article is? In other words, do you think Time magazine
and Ripley are to be trusted? Why or why not?
Does the article use logic, emotion, or both to make
an impact on the reader? If so, describe how.
Compare that use to the way logic and emotion are
used by Shakespeare, Armstrong, or both.
CMT: Homework
Make a third entry on your chart for “What Is a Life
Worth?” Feel free to use the highlighting,
summarizing, connections, and critical thinking work
your did previously as a way to fill out the chart.
First Reading
Read through the text below, noting the way that life’s
value is determined by the Human life Value of
Calculator. Pay particular attention to the data input,
which reflects a twenty-year-old single mother
working in a service industry. If you have access to
the Web site itself, you can choose a variety of data
inputs to see how the results vary. Try providing
different age, gender, occupation, and income
information, and then examine the effect on the
results. As you make sense of the calculator and its
workings, make note of any connections you see to
the previous texts we have read.
Value of Life Calculator
Responding to the Text: Write a brief response-no more
than eight sentences-to the Human Life Value Calculator
Web site. The response should describe what the Web
site asserts about a human life’s value and your reactions
to those assertions. Remember that your response does
not have to be in complete agreement or disagreement
with the text; you might agree with some aspects or
disagree with others.
CMT: Homework
As you did with the previous texts, fill out a chart entry
for the Web site. To facilitate this task, you may refer,
as needed, to the highlighting you have done, your
responses, and the questions (above) you just
answered.
Writing: The Value of Human
Life
Thesis Statements – Occasion/Position Statements – is
a complex, two-part sentence that begins with one of the
following words:
If
After
In order that
Whether
Although
In order to
While
As
Since
As if
So that
As long as
Though
As soon as
Unless
Because
Until
Before
When
Even
Whenever
Even if
Where
Even though
Wherever
Occasion/Position
The Occasion
-is the first part of the sentence
The Position
-Is the second part of the sentence
-Introduces your reason for writing
-states what you plan to prove or explain
in your paragraph
-Can be any event, problem, idea,
solution or circumstance that gives you a
reason to write
-it is the independent clause in the
complex sentence
-Is the dependent clause in the complex
sentence
Example:
1. Although my family and I have taken many
wonderful vacations, none was more fun and
exciting than our camping trip to the Grand Canyon
EXAMPLES:
2. Before you make the decision to light up a cigarette, consider the problems caused by
smoking. Smoking can give you bad breath, wrinkles, and lung cancer.
3. Even though bike helmets are sometimes unfashionable and uncomfortable, all cyclists
should wear them. Helmets protect a rider’s head and face, prevents death, and life altering
brain injuries.
4. If students use chemicals to do science experiments, it is important that they learn the
proper way to dispose of them.
5. Although many people believe that we can assign monetary value to a human life, I
disagree. Love, relationships, and experience cannot be discounted nor measured by
dollars and cents.
Using the Words of Others
When you write anything in response to a text you have
read, you will have to describe for your reader what the
original text says. This can be done through direct
quotations (saying precisely what the original author said),
paraphrasing (providing a specific idea from the text, but
putting it in your own words), and summarizing (providing
the primary ideas from the text in a generalized form). The
activities you have already completed have asked you to find
quotations provide paraphrases, and writes summaries, so
you should be well prepared for using the words of
Shakespeare, Armstrong, Ripley, and the movie within your
formal essay.
Using the Words of Others
When you use any method for representing the ideas from
another text in your own writing, you must provide a citation.
Example: Not everyone who lost a loved one in 9/11 was
compensated because “the rules give preference to the
victim’s spouse and children” (Ripley 42).
Remember, even when you are summarizing and
paraphrasing, you still must attribute the ideas to the original
writer.
Writing Assignment
You have your choice of two essay topics:
1. Read “Hamlet’s soliloquy” by Shakespeare, “it’s Not About the
Bike” by Lance Armstrong and Sally Jenkins, Amanda Ripley’s
“What Is a Life Worth?” and play with “The Value of Life
Calculator.” All four sources define the value of life differently.
Draw on all the sources to create a definition for the value of life.
Then write an essay that analyzes how the appeals (ethos, logos,
pathos) helped to create your definition. Support your definition
with specific references to the text.
2. Read “Hamlet’s soliloquy” by Shakespeare, “it’s Not About the
Bike” by Lance Armstrong and Sally Jenkins, Amanda Ripley’s
“What Is a Life Worth?” and play with “The Value of Life
Calculator.” All four sources define the value of life differently.
Based on your readings, how should our society assign value to
human life? Be sure to refer to and cite the readings. You may
also use examples from other sources and from your own
personal experiences and observations.
Writing Assignment Requirements
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1. A clean, rough draft is due in class on Tuesday, April 9, 2013 for a very
valuable peer edit and review. You will receive a test grade for having your
essay in class on the day it is due and participating in the review process.
2. Do not put your name on the paper- instead of your name, type in the number
I assign to you today during class.
3. Your paper must be typed and in MLA format with a works cited page
4. When you turn in your final, revised essay you must include the CMT, and the
highlighted, annotated texts, the rough draft with peer edits, and an outline or
some other pre-writing organizer. All of these materials together, will be worth a
test grade.
5. Turn in a final, clean, revised essay by April 17, 2013. You may email it to
[email protected] if you wish but you must turn in the rest of the required
components in class.
6. Late papers will not be accepted.
A word about plagiarism
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Plagiarism will not be tolerated under any
circumstances and will result in a zero on your paper.
Plagiarism includes any type of copying and pasting
from the internet, and summary or paraphrasing, or
direct quotations that are not properly cited. People
must be given credit for their work and ideas
Essay Edit 1
Trade essays (please always sign your name and
which edit you are conducting).
Reverse outline. Take the essay and outline it’s key
points.
Essay Edit 2
Trade essays (please always sign your name and
which edit you are conducting).
Box it out and label. Box out and label the intro, body,
and conclusion.
Essay Edit 3
Trade essays (please always sign your name and
which edit you are conducting).
Circle and underline. Circle all sentences that are
short/fragmented. Circle any transitions you find.
Underline sentences that are run-on or seem too
long.
Edit Review
Review the reverse outline. How does it compare
your outline? Does it make the argument you
intended?
Review the box it out. Is your thesis in the right place.
Do your body paragraphs stay on topic? Did you write
a conclusion?
Review circle underline. Do you have a healthy
balance of simple and complex sentence structure? If
not change it. If you used transitions rewrite the
sentence dropping the transition.
MLA
Format
Times New Roman
12 font
Double spaced (before you start typing: go to format, paragraph,
click double space-never hit return twice it’s now done for you).
Last Name page number in header.
Upper left hand corner type:
First and Last Name
Teacher Name
Class and Period
7 January 2010
Title
Click tab to start your paragraph and begin your
introduction. From here on out you should know how to complete
your essay.