Transcript The Value of Life Please take out 6 pieces of paper and title it “The Value of Life” – you will need it.

The Value of Life
Please take out 6 pieces of paper and
title it “The Value of Life” – you will need
it to respond to the following quickwrite
and other questions in this unit
Adapted from CSU ERWC Material
Life is only valuable if you have a
family.
Jot down whether you agree or disagree with
this statement and WHY!
 Philosophical Chairs: Move to sides/duke it
out.

10-minute Quickwrite: Now that we’ve
discussed all of this, answer the question:
What is the value of life?
* How do you measure the value of your own
life?
* What makes it worth living?
* What gives life meaning?
* Note: Respond as thoroughly as you can to this
prompt. You will continue to add notes and
responses to this page, so don’t lose it!
Create a Concept Map like this in your
notes:
Concept: Life
 Example sentence:
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Synonyms:
Contexts:
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Examples:
Non-examples:
Here are some examples to get you
started; add as many more examples
as you can come up with
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Concept: Life
Example sentence: It is difficult to place a
precise value on human life
Synonyms:
Contexts:
Vitality
Medical
Energy
Economic
Examples:
Lifestyle
Life’s Work
Non-examples:
Death
Inactivity
Concept Map -- Life

Synonyms:
Living
Viability
Human being
Existence
Presence
Contexts:
Legal/penal
Religious
Personal/private
Professional/public
Autobiography

Examples:
Life partner
The good life
The meaning of life
Eternal life
Life sentence
Life story
Non-examples:
Inanimate objects
Afterlife
Nothingness
Non-existence
Sterility
Absence
Hamlet Soliloquy – Surveying the Text.
Continue adding to your notes:
Soliloquy: a convention used by
playwrights to allow an audience to hear
the thoughts of a character
 What prior experiences have you had
reading plays?
 What do you notice about the text
structure?

Hamlet Soliloquy -- Predictions
Shakespeare’s Hamlet is a tragedy that
was published in 1604. What is a
tragedy? What themes and outcomes
do you expect to find in a tragedy?
 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?

Hamlet Soliloquy -- Predictions
The soliloquy here begins with a famous
quotation: "To be, or not to be--that is the
question."
 Make a prediction: What do you think
"the question" is that Hamlet is asking?
How do you think he might answer it?
 Think about the primary meaning of the
verb “be”

Polar Opposites
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An important rhetorical device
Shakespeare uses in Hamlet’s soliloquy is
antithesis, or a balance of opposites.
Hamlet explores a series of oppositional
relationships in his speech, beginning with
the question of “to be, or not to be.”
Polar Opposites

Brainstorm antonyms for the terms listed below
Term
1. Oppression
2. Action
3. Endurance
4. Mystery
5. Life
Antonym
Polar Opposites

Brainstorm antonyms for the terms listed below
Term
1. Oppression
2. Action
3. Endurance
4. Mystery
5. Life
Antonym Examples
Freedom, ease, democracy
Idleness, inactivity, apathy
Weakness, limitations
Certainty, sureness
Death, loss, mortality
Hamlet – Key Vocabulary
Create a Vocabulary Chart (C-Note style) with the
following terms
 fortune – noun: Fate; destiny or luck
 opposition – noun:
 oppression – noun:
 mortality – noun:
 dread – verb:
 resolution – noun:
 antithesis – noun:
 pessimism – noun:
 optimism – noun:
Hamlet – Key Vocabulary
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Check your Vocabulary Chart to make sure
definitions match these:
fortune – noun: Fate; destiny or luck
opposition – noun: resistance; hostility
oppression – noun: repression; domination
mortality – noun: subject to death
dread – verb: terror; fear
resolution – noun: decision or promise
antithesis – noun: exact opposite or contrast
pessimism – noun: cynicism or negative outlook
optimism – noun: hopefulness or positive outlook
Hamlet 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 married
Hamlet's mother. Hamlet doesn't know what to
do about this knowledge. He wonders if he can
trust anyone, or if perhaps he's going crazy.
First Reading
As you first read the text, focus on what
you see as the "big picture" that Hamlet
describes.
 Based on this first reading, would you say
that Hamlet is an optimist or a
pessimist? What evidence do you have
to support your opinion?

Second Reading – with a
highlighter
Partners: Using a highlighter, mark the
places in the text where Hamlet
describes what it means to be alive.
 Example: In lines 2-3, he describes life as
"the slings and arrows of outrageous
fortune," so you could highlight that phrase
as an example of what Hamlet thinks it
means "to be."
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Share with your Team
Take a look at the parts of the soliloquy that
you highlighted, and compare them with
your teammates’ markings.
Paraphrase
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Choose 3 of your highlighted quotations and
paraphrase them (one from the beginning, one
from the middle, and one from the end).
For the "slings and arrows of outrageous
fortune" example, a paraphrase might sound
something like this: "Hamlet compares being
alive to having destiny shoot arrows at him."
Consider the difference between having Hamlet
say that life is like "the slings and arrows of
outrageous fortune" and having him just say "life
is unpleasant."
What are the effects of Shakespeare's stylistic
choices as a writer?
Reflect
Reflect again on the question asked
earlier: From the evidence in the soliloquy,
does Hamlet seem optimistic or a
pessimistic?
 Imagine you get a chance to meet and talk
with Hamlet. What do you think about
him? What would you say to him? Be
descriptive.

Reflect
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He is most definitely pessimistic, isn’t he?
In the soliloquy, Hamlet is speaking thoughtfully
and agonizingly to himself about the question of
whether to commit suicide to end the pain of
experience: “To be, or not to be: that is the
question” (1). He says that the miseries of life
are such that no one would willingly bear them,
except that they are afraid of “something after
death” (23). Because we do not know what to
expect in the afterlife, we would rather “bear
those ills we have,” Hamlet says, “than fly to
others that we know not of” (26-27).
Show Ethos, Pathos, Logos
Powerpoint
Rhetorical Appeals

How does Hamlet's soliloquy use pathos,
or emotional appeals, to create a specific
effect on the reader? Where is pathos
used in the soliloquy?
Rhetorical Appeals

How does Hamlet's soliloquy use logos, or logic,
to create a specific effect on the reader? Where
is logos used in the soliloquy? (Identify the line
numbers)

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 his own life in particular or about the
quality of life in general?
Legit!
http://www.mybigcampus.com/library/12753
8
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Funny!
http://www.mybigcampus.com/library/14406
3
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Charting Multiple Texts
Text
Information
Title: Hamlet
Author:
Shakespeare
Genre: Drama
Title: Author:
Genre:
Title: Author:
Genre:
Title: Author:
Genre:
What
is the
text’s
big
issue?
What claim
does the text
make?
What are the
examples/
quotes from
the text?
What do you
think about the
text’s claim?
What are
your
examples?
How does this
text connect to
other texts?
Roger Ebert: The Essential Man
by Chris Jones
Surveying and Predicting
1. What, if anything, do you know about Roger
Ebert? Take a look at the picture below for clues.
Surveying the Text
The second text is an excerpt from an interview with
famous film critic Roger
Ebert after he lost his lower
jawbone and the ability to speak
eat, and drink as a result of his
battle with cancer. The article,
written by Chris Jones for
Esquire, describes the joy and
suffering Ebert experienced in
his post surgery life. Roger Ebert died on April 4, 2013
at the age of 70.
Background Clip
http://www.mybigcampus.com/library/38436
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Surveying and Predicting
Now that you have viewed the video, how do you
think this text will connect to the idea of the Value of
Life? Do you think Ebert’s views will be similar or
dissimilar to Hamlet’s?
Key Vocabulary
ritual (¶ 2): a rite or repeated practice
survival (¶ 5): endurance, life, or existence
radiates (¶ 6): glows or exudes
savoring (¶ 7): relishing or enjoying
cinematic (¶ 9): grand or dramatic; like a film
feverishly (¶ 10): excitedly or enthusiastically
Key Vocabulary (continued)
rudimentary (¶ 11): basic or crude
mandible (¶ 12): jaw
tracheostomy (¶ 12): a surgical procedure to create an opening
through the neck into the trachea or windpipe
monologue (¶ 15): a speech presenting the thoughts of a single
person
argument (¶ 15): an attempt to persuade someone of something
facsimile (¶ 15): a copy or reproduction
First Read
1. Read the article by Chris Jones. As you read,
pay attention to the way Ebert talks about the
value of life. As you did with Hamlet, try to
determine whether Ebert appears to be generally
pessimistic or optimistic in this interview.
2. In addition, answer this question: Does Ebert
also present an argument about the value of
death? Be sure to distinguish Jones’s words from
Ebert’s words.
Read with a pencil
As you did with the Shakespeare text, you
will mark Jones’s interview with Roger Ebert.
This time, underline the sentences, phrases,
or words Ebert uses to describe what he
thinks it means to be alive. Remember
that most of Ebert’s direct quotations will be
in italics.
Pair Share
Compare what you have selected with the choices
a classmate has made. Then, working with your
partner, mark some of the commonly underlined
parts with a “+” or “–” sign to indicate whether each
quote shows a generally positive or negative
outlook on life.
Discuss the results with your partner, answer this
question about Ebert’s outlook on life: Was he an
optimist or a pessimist?
Read with a pencil…AGAIN
Second Reading: Go through the text once
more. Imagine that you are reading Ebert’s
statements from Hamlet’s perspective.
Circle any passages that Hamlet would find
particularly interesting or compelling. Some
of these may be the same words you have
already highlighted while others will be new.
Mock Interview
MAJOR Ethos Pathos Logos