The Value of Life - Pleasanton Unified School District Value of Life Reading selections for this module: Shakespeare, William. Hamlet. ... What does being alive mean to you? How do

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Student Version

The Value of LifeReading selections for this module:Shakespeare, William. Hamlet. Act III, Sc. 1: Hamlet’s “To be, or not to be” soliloquy.Armstrong, Lance, with Sally Jenkins. Excerpt from It’s Not About the Bike: My Journey Back to Life.

New York: Putnam, 2000. 1–5. Ripley, Amanda. “What Is a Life Worth?” Time 11 Feb. 2002.The Life and Health Insurance Foundation for Education. LIFE. “The Human Life Value Calculator”

<http://www.lifeline.org/build/human_life_value_calculator/index.php?pt=lfhlvc&m=1>.

Getting Ready to Read

Beforeyoureadwhatotherssayaboutthevalueoflife,takeafewminutestorespondinwritingtothefollowingquickwriteprompt:

Whatdoesbeingalivemeantoyou?Howdoyouassignvaluetolife?Whatmakeslifechallenging?Whatmakesitworthliving?Describeafewexamplesthathelptoshowyourthinkingabouthowpeopleshouldvaluelife.

Introducing Key Concepts

Thisactivitywillhelpyoubuildyourunderstandingofthemanymeaningssuggestedbytheconceptof“life.”Usethemodelbelowtoexplorethewaysinwhichsocietydefines“life”invariouscontexts.

Reading Rhetorically

Prereading

Activity 1

Theassignmentsequenceyou’reabouttobeginwillaskyoutoreadseveraldifferenttexts,eachofwhichaddressestheissueofhowlifeisvalued.Asyouwillsee,thetextsprovideverydifferentwaysofthinkingabouthowwecan,do,andshouldvaluelife.

Activity 2

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Concept: Life

Example sentence:

Synonyms: Contexts:

Examples: Non-examples:

Activity 2 (Continued)

Activity 3

Activity 4

Text 1—Hamlet’s Soliloquy

Surveying the Text

Thefirsttextyouwillreadisthefamous“Tobe,ornottobe”speechfromShakespeare’splayHamlet, Prince of Denmark, whichwaspub-lishedin1604underthetitleThe Tragicall Historie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke.Thatspeechisasoliloquy,aconventionusedbyplay-wrightstoallowtheaudiencetohearthethoughtsofacharacter.Takeafewmomentstolookoverthetext,andthenanswerthefollowingquestions:

• Whatpriorexperienceshaveyouhadreadingplays?• Whatdidyounoticeaboutthepageformatandannotations?• Whatdidyounoticeaboutthetextstructure?

Making Predictions and Asking Questions

Whenapproachinganewtext,youshouldalwaystrytodrawonyourpriorexperiencestohelpyoupredictwhatthetextmightbeabout.Thefollowingquestionswillhelpyoutodoso:

• Whatisatragedy?Whatthemesandoutcomeswouldyouexpecttofindinatragedy?

• WhatdoyouknowaboutthelanguageinplayswrittenbyShake-speare?WhathaveyoudoneinthepasttohelpyourselfreadShakespeareeffectively?

• Thesoliloquyherebeginswithafamousquotation:“Tobe,ornottobe—thatisthequestion.”Whatdoyouthinkis“thequestion”Hamletisasking?Howdoyouthinkhemightanswerit?

CSU EXPOSITORY READING AND WRITING COURSE | SEMESTER ONE THE VALUE OF LIFE | ��

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Introducing Key Vocabulary

Shakespeare’stextsareoftendifficultbecauseheuseswordsthatarenolongerinfrequentuse,eventhoughtheywerecommonwhenhewrotehisplays.Severalwordsinthesoliloquyfitintothiscategory.Youwillseeinthetextthatsomewordsaremarkedwithanasterisk(*);adefinitionorsynonymisprovidedtotherightofthelineforthosewords.

Polar OppositesAnimportantrhetoricaldeviceShakespeareusesinHamlet’ssoliloquyisantithesis,orabalanceofopposites.Hamletexploresaseriesofoppositionalrelationshipsinhisspeech,beginningwiththequestionof“tobe,ornottobe.”Forthisvocabularyactivity,youwillexploresomeoftheseantitheticalrelationshipsbybrainstormingantonymsforthetermslistedbelow.

Term Antonym

1. oppression

2. action

3. endurance

4. mystery

5. life

Word FamiliesListasmanywordsaspossiblethatarerelatedtothefollowingfiveconceptsfromHamlet’ssoliloquy:action,thought,suffering,mortality,andfear.Youmayincludesynonymsdirectlyfromthetextalongwithanyotherwordsyoubelievearerelatedtotheconcept.Wordfamiliesarenotsimplylistsofsynonyms;theymayincludeanysetsofwordsthatfrequentlyappeartogether.Forexample,“brackish”and“water”arepartofthesamewordfamily.

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:

Activity 5


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First Reading

ReadthesoliloquyfromHamlet.Althoughitisquiteshort,itpacksmuchmeaningintoits33lines.Youmayneedtoreaditmorethanoncebeforeyoufeelyouhaveagoodgraspontheideasitcontains.

BackgroundAtthispointintheplay,Hamletfeelsthatheisinacrisis.Hisfatherdiedafewmonthsearlierundermysteriouscircumstances.Hamletdiscoversthathisfatherwassecretlymurdered—byHamlet’suncle,Claudius.Makingthingsevenworse,ClaudiusthenmarriesHamlet’smother.Hamletdoesnotknowwhattodoaboutthisknowledge.Hewonderswhetherhecantrustanyoneorifperhapsheisgoingcrazy.

Asyoufirstreadthetext,focusonwhatyouseeasthe“bigpicture”Hamletdescribes.Basedonthisfirstreading,wouldyousaythatHamletisanoptimistorapessimist?Whatareyourreasonsforthinkingso?

Rereading the Text and Looking Closely at Language

Strategic Marking of the Text

Becausethisseriesoftextsfocusesonthewaypeoplevaluelife,youwillnowneedtotakeasecondlookatthesoliloquy.Thistime,readthetextwithayellowhighlighterorcoloredpencil(ordevisesomeotherwayofmarkingthetextinauniqueandeasilyrecognizableway),markingtheplacesinthetextwhereHamletdescribeswhatitmeanstobealive.

Example: Inlinestwoandthree,Hamletdescribeslifeas“theslingsandarrowsofoutrageousfortune,”soyoucouldhighlightthatphraseasanexampleofwhatHamletthinksitmeans“tobe.”

Characterizing the TextTakealookatthepartsofthesoliloquyyouhavehighlightedandcomparethemwithaclassmate’smarkings.Findafewexamplesthatyoubothhavemarkedandmarktheexampleswitha“+”or“–”toindicatewhethertheexamplesshowapositive(+)outlookonlifeoranegative(–)one.Fortheexampleabove—“theslingsandarrowsofoutrageousfortune”—youwouldmarka“–”becauseitcomparesbeingalivetobeingunderattack.Afteryouhavemarkedseveralsuchexamples,reflectonthequestionaskedearlier:Atthismoment,doesitseemasifHamletisanoptimistorapessimist?

Paraphrasing the TextContinuingtoworkwithyourpartner,choosethreeofyoursamplesandparaphrasethem.“Paraphrasing”meansputtingtheideasof

Activity 6

Activity 7

Reading


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anotherwriterintoyourownwords.Againusingthe“slingsandarrowsofoutrageousfortune”example,aparaphrasemightsoundsomethinglikethis:“Hamletcomparesbeingalivetohavingfateshootarrowsathim.”Asyouparaphrase,payattentiontothestyleusedbyShake-spearetoconveyhisideas.WhatisthedifferencebetweenhavingHamletsaythatlifeislike“theslingsandarrowsofoutrageousfor-tune”andhavinghimjustsay,“Lifeisn’tverypleasant”?WhataretheeffectsofShakespeare’sstylisticchoicesasawriter?

Activity 8

Activity 9

Postreading

Thinking Critically

Weidentifiedthegenreearlierasadrama,butmorespecifically,thisisasoliloquy.Asnotedearlier,asoliloquyisadramaticconventionthatallowsacharactertospeakaloudhisorherthoughts.Fromyourread-ingofthesoliloquy,answerthefollowingquestions:

• Doesthesoliloquyformseemtofavortheexpressionofemotion(pathos)orlogic(logos)?Explainwhyyouthinkso.

• DoesHamlet’ssoliloquyuseemotion(pathos)tocreateaspecificeffectonthereader?Ifso,describehowemotionisused.

• DoesHamlet’ssoliloquyuselogic(logos)tocreateaspecificeffectonthereader?Ifso,describehowthelogicisused.

• WhenHamletspeakshissoliloquy,heisincrisis.Howdohiscir-cumstancespositionHamlettospeakwithauthority(ethos)aboutthevalueoflife?DoesHamletseemtobespeakingabouthislifeinparticularoraboutthequalityoflifeingeneral?

• Ascarefulreaders,weareofcourseawarethatitisnotreallyHamletspeaking,butacharactercreatedbyShakespeare.DoesShake-speareseemlikesomeonewhoseopinionsandattitudesareworthconsidering?Why?

Charting Multiple Texts

Takealookatthechartconstructedforthisassignment.Itisa“graphicorganizer”—afancynameforsomethingthathelpsyoukeeptrackofvariouspiecesofinformationandtherelationshipsamongthosepieces.Becausethechartisrathersmallandyouwillbedoingalotofwritingonit,youmightwanttogetalargerpieceofpaperandcreateyourownchart.Thechartwillproveusefulinthewritingassign-mentyouwillcompleteattheendofthismodule.

Directions: Asyoulookdownthesideofthechart,youwillseethatitasksyouforinformationaboutthedifferenttextsyouwillbereadinginthisassignment:

• Title• Author• Genre


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Thetitleandauthorareself-explanatory.“Genre”means“type,”soyouareaskedtodescribethetypeofwriting.Forthisfirsttext,youwouldput“Drama”or“Play”asthegenre.

Acrossthetopofthechartaretheideasyouwillbetrackingasyoureadthetextsinthismodule.Theyarepresentedintheformofquestions:

• Whatisthetext’sbigissue?– Thisasksyoutoidentifythe“mainidea”ofthetext.

• Whatclaimdoesthetextmake?– Thisasksyoutoidentifythewriter’sperspectiveonthemainidea.

• Whatareexamplesorquotesfromthetext?– Thisiswhereyouwouldputexamplesgivenbythewritertohelp

thereaderunderstandhisorherclaim.Thequotesandpara-phrasesyouworkedonearlierwillfitwellhere.Besuretoincludepageorlinenumbers(orboth)toidentifywhereyoufoundthequoteoridea.

• Whatdoyouthinkaboutthetext’sclaim?– Inthisbox,youwillexplainyourresponsetothetext’sclaim,

includingtowhatextent(ifany)youagreewithit.

• Whatareyourexamples?– Giveafewexamplesfromyourownexperiencesthathelp

explainyourresponsetothetext’sclaim.

• Howdoesthistextconnecttoothertexts?– Ifyouseeasimilaritytoanothertext,makenoteofithere.

Connectionscanbemadeevenamongtextsthathaveverydifferentclaims.

TakeafewmomentstofillinthechartforHamlet’ssoliloquy.Thefinalboxonmakingconnectionsmaybeleftblankforthemoment.



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Surveying the Text

ThesecondtextisanexcerptfromIt’s Not About the Bike: My Journey Back to LifebyLanceArmstrongwithSallyJenkins.Theexcerptyouwillreadisfromthebook’sopeningchapter.Priortoreading,trytoanswerthequestionsbelow.Theyaredesignedtohelpyouactivateyourschema,whichisatechnicaltermthatmeansyougeneratesomepriorknowledgesoyouwillbereadytoreadandcomprehendmoreactively.

• WhatdoyouknowaboutLanceArmstrong?Ifyoudonotknowanythingabouthim,trydoingaquickInternetsearchandseewhatcomesup.

• WhatisthesignificanceofthefactthatthebookwaswrittenbyArmstrong with SallyJenkins?

• Whatkindoftext—whatgenre—doyouthinkthisbookis?


ThefollowingquestionswillhelpyoumakespecificpredictionsaboutthecontentofArmstrong’stext:

• WhattopicsdoyouthinkArmstrongmighttalkaboutthatarerelatedtotheissueofhowsocietyvalueslife?

• DoyouthinkArmstrong’sclaimaboutthevalueoflifewillagreewithHamlet’sornot?


AlthoughtheexcerptfromArmstrong’sautobiographyisgenerallyaneasy,straightforwardtexttoread,thereareafewvocabularywordsyoumightwanttoreviewpriortoreading.Whenyourunintothosewordsduringyourreadingofthetext,notethecontextofeachwordandwritea“bestguess”synonymforit.Yourteachermaywantyoutocompareyourworkwithyourclassmates.

• expire• poignant• demise• cadence• marbled• acrid• puckered• catheter

Text 2—It’s Not About the Bike

Activity 10

Activity 11

Activity 12

Prereading

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• constitution• articulate

Whichsetsorpairsofwordsarerelatedtoeachother?Whichwordsrefertodeath?Whichwordsrefertothebody?Doyouthinkyoumightencounteradditionalwordfamiliesinthisexcerpt?Whichones?


Activity 13

Activity 14

First Reading

ReadthetextbyArmstrong.Asyouread,payattentiontothewayArmstrongtalksaboutthevalueoflife.AsyoudidwithHamlet,trytodeterminewhetherArmstrongappearstobegenerallypessimisticoroptimisticinthispassage.Inaddition,answerthisquestion:DoesArmstrongalsopresentanargumentaboutthevalueofdeath?

Rereading the Text and Looking Closely at Language

Strategic Marking of the TextFirst Highlighting:AsyoudidwiththeShakespearetext,youwillmarkArmstrong’stext.Thistime,useanorange-coloredhighlighterorcol-oredpencil(ordevisesomeothermethodofmarkingthetextdifferent-lythanyoumarkedthesoliloquy).Highlightthesentences,phrases,orwordsArmstrongusestodescribewhathethinksitmeanstobealive.

Characterizing the TextOnceyouhavehighlightedArmstrong’stext,comparewhatyouhaveselectedtohighlightwiththechoicesaclassmatehasmade.Then,workingwithyourpartner,marksomeofthecommonlyhighlightedpartswitha“+”or“–”signtoindicatewhethereachquoteshowsagenerallypositiveornegativeoutlookonlife.Discussingtheresultswithyourpartner,decidehowyouwouldanswerthisquestionaboutArmstrong’soutlookonlife:Isheanoptimistorapessimist?

Strategic Marking of the TextSecond Highlighting: Gothroughthetextoncemore,thistimewithayellowhighlighter.ImaginethatyouarereadingArmstrong’stextfromHamlet’sperspective.HighlightanypassagesthatHamletwouldfindparticularlyinterestingorcompelling.Someofthesemaybethesamewordsyouhavealreadyhighlighted,whileotherswillbenew.

Connecting the Texts—The Mock InterviewArmstrongandHamlet,intheirrespectivetexts,providequitediffer-entperspectivesonthemeaningandvalueoflife.Workingwithyourpartner,envisionascenarioinwhichHamletsomehowwouldhavetheopportunitytointerviewArmstrongandviceversa.OneofyoushouldwriteoutaseriesofatleastfivequestionsthatHamletwouldaskArmstrong,whiletheotherwritesfivequestionsforArmstrongtoaskHamlet.

Reading


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Whenthequestionsarefinished,takeonthepersonasofthesetwoandconducttheinterviews.Besuretogiveanswersthatareinkeep-ingwiththepointsofviewprovidedinthetwotexts.Afterconductingthemockinterviews,discusstherelativeviewpointsofthecharacters.Howwellwouldtheygetalongwithoneanother?Howwouldeachrespondtotheargumentsmadebytheother?

Herearesomesampleinterviewquestions:

• Howdoyoufeelyouhavebeentreatedbyotherpeople?• Areyouafraidofdeath?• Arethereanybenefitstosuffering?• Howdoyouapproachchallenges?

Activity 15

Activity 16


Thinking Critically

Armstrong’stextisanautobiography.Aswiththesoliloquyweexam-inedearlier,theformofthiswritinghasaneffectonhowitisreadandunderstood.ThequestionsbelowwillhelpyouassessArmstrong’stext.

• Anautobiographyisaformofnonfiction—atextthattellsthe“truth.”DoyouthinkArmstrongisbeingtruthfulinhisaccountofhislife?Explainyourreasoning.

• Armstrong’sautobiographyiswritten“with”SallyJenkins.WhatroledoyouthinkJenkinsplayedinthewritingofthetext?HowdoesherparticipationinthecreationofthetextinfluenceyourinterpretationofArmstrong’sstory?Inotherwords,howdoesthecombinationofArmstrongandJenkinsasauthorsaffectthe“ethos”ofthetext?

• DoyouthinkArmstrong’sstoryhasanimpactonthereaderbe-causeofitsuseoflogic(logos)oremotion(pathos)orboth?

• UnlikeHamlet,Armstrongisnotinthemidstofhiscrisiswhenhewriteshisstory;instead,hewritesabouthisexperiencesinhind-sight.DoesthathaveanimpactonArmstrong’sabilitytomakehisideasandstorycompellingtothereader?Explainyourreasoning.


MakeanentryinyourchartfortheArmstrongtext.Fillitoutasyoudidwiththesoliloquy.Whenyoureachtheentryfor“Howdoesthistextconnecttoothertexts?”,brieflydescribethewaysinwhichArmstrongrespondstoorchallengestheassertionsShakespearemakesinhissoliloquyforHamlet.

Postreading


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Surveying the Text

Thearticle“WhatIsaLifeWorth?”comesfromtheFebruary12,2002,issueofTimemagazine.Takealookatitsformandlength.Howmuchtimedoyouthinkitwilltaketoreadthispiece?Haveyoureadany-thingfromTime magazine?Whatdoyouknowaboutthatpublication?Whatkindsofarticlesarecommonlyincludedinit?Whattypesofpeopledoyouthinkcomposethemagazine’sprimaryreadership?


Thisarticleincludesthefollowingsubtitle:“TocompensatefamiliesofthevictimsofSept.11,thegovernmenthasinventedawaytomeasurebloodandlossincash.Alookatthewrenchingcalculus.”

• Whatpredictionscanyoumakeaboutthearticle’scontentfromthissubtitle?

• Whatconnectionsdoyouthinkyoumightseebetweenthisarticleandtheprevioustwotextsyouhaveread?

• Thefirsttwotextstookfirst-personperspectivesonthesubject.Doyouanticipatethatthisarticlewillcontinueinthatvein,orwillitbedifferent?Whydoyouthinkso?


Below,youwillfindthreegroupingsofvocabularywordstakenfrom“WhatIsaLifeWorth?”Thefirstgroupconsistsofwordsrelatedtothelegalandfinancialaspectsofthearticle.Thesecondlistcontainstermsthatconveyinformationwithparticularemotionalconnotations.Thefinalsetofwordsismadeupoftermsthatareusedtodescribetheworkingsofthegovernmentalplantocompensate9/11familyvictims.Workingaloneorwithapartner,lookovereachlistofwordsandprovideabriefdefinitionforthewordsyoudonotknowwell.Payparticularattentiontothewaysinwhichthewordsconnecttooneanother(e.g.,peoplelitigate,orsue,becausetheywantsomebodytocompensatethemforaloss).

Financial and legal terms• compensate• litigation• commodify• valuation• discretion

Text 3—“What Is a Life Worth?”

Activity 17

Activity 18

Activity 19

Prereading


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• liability• beneficiary• tort• allocation• disparity

Emotion-laden words• squeamish• garish• gall• traumatize• callous• inconsolable• indignant• balk• deteriorate

Descriptive terms• rhetorical• Rorschachtest• artillery• analogy• solidarity• orchestrated• concoct• mechanism


Activity 20

Activity 21

First Reading

Asyouread“WhatIsaLifeWorth?”forthefirsttime,lookforthemainissuesandthevariousstancespeopletakeinresponsetothoseis-sues.BesuretoalsolookforconnectionstotheideaofvaluinglifeandtowhatwaspreviouslysaidaboutvaluinglifebyShakespeareandArmstrong.

Howis“life”definedinthistext?Forexample,does“life”refertoahumanbody,asoul,humanexperience,existence,orqualityoflife?Doesthisdefinitionincludeaperson’spersonallifeandprofessionalorworkinglife?

Rereading the Text

Strategic Marking of the TextChoosetwohighlighterorpencilcolorsandrevisitthetextofthearticleon9/11.Thetwocolorswillbeusedtomarktwodifferentas-pectsofthearticle.Withthefirstcolor,highlightthewords,phrases,andsentencesfromthearticlethatdescribevaluinglifeinlegaland

Reading


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financialterms.Withthesecondcolor,highlightthewords,phrases,andsentencesthatdescribevaluinglifeinhumanandemotional terms.

Summarizing the TextUsingthesectionsyouhighlightedinthepreviousstep,writeasum-maryofthearticle’sdescriptionsofhowlifeisvaluedandpeople’sresponsestothatvaluingoflife.Yoursummaryshouldincludeonlythemostimportantideasandmustbelimitedtosixsentences.Ifyourteacherallows,youmaywanttoworkonthissummarywithapartner.

Connecting the TextsWithapartner,readthesummaryyouwroteinthepreviousstep.OneofyoushouldreadthesummaryfromtheperspectiveofHamlet;theothershouldtakeonthepersonaofArmstrong.Discusswithyourpartnerhoweachwouldprobablyreacttothewaythat“WhatIsaLifeWorth?”describesthevalueoflife.

• WouldHamletagreewithanyoftheideaspresentedinthearticle?Ifso,whichones?

• WouldArmstrongagreewithanyoftheideasinthearticle?Ifso,whichones?

• WouldArmstrongandHamletbeinagreementatallinthewaytheymightinterpretthisarticle’sideas?Ifso,how?


Activity 22 Thinking Critically

Theprevioustwotexts(thesoliloquyandtheautobiographicalexcerpt)bothprovideverypersonalapproachestotheideaofvaluinglife.Thecurrenttext,though,isanarticlefromarespectednationalnewsmagazine.Thefollowingquestionswillhelpyouworkthroughsomeoftheimplicationsofthetext’sstructureandfeaturesontheinterpreta-tionandunderstandingofthetext:

• Mostnewsarticlessuchas“WhatIsaLifeWorth?”trytotakeanobjective,unbiasedapproach.Wouldyouagreethatthistextisunbiased,ordoyouthinkitfavorsoneperspective?Explainyouranswer.

• WhatkindsofevidencedoesRipley,theauthorofthearticle,usetogetacrossthekeyideasandissuesassociatedwiththecompen-sationof9/11victimsandtheirfamilies?Areanyspecifictypesofevidencemorecompellingtoyouasareader?Lesscompelling?

• Howaccuratedoyouthinktheinformationinthearticleis?Inotherwords,doyouthinkTimemagazineandRipleyaretobetrusted?Whyorwhynot?

• Doesthearticleuselogic,emotion,orbothtomakeanimpactonthereader?Ifso,describehow.ComparethatusetothewaylogicandemotionareusedbyShakespeare,Armstrong,orboth.

Postreading


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Activity 24

Text 4—“Human Life Value Calculator”

Activity 23

Activity 25


Makeathirdentryonyourchartfor“WhatIsaLifeWorth?”Feelfreetousethehighlighting,summarizing,connections,andcriticalthinkingworkyoudidpreviouslyasawaytofilloutthechart.

Prereading

Surveying the Text

ThistextcomesfromanInternetresourcecalledthe“LifeandHealthInsuranceFoundationforEducation.”ViewingtheactualWebsiteiscertainlypreferabletolookingattheprintedtext;theWebsite’shumanlifevaluecalculatorisavailableforexaminationathttp://www.life-line.org/life_how_human.html.

• Ifyourclassroomhascomputeraccess,visittheWebsite.Clickaroundandlookatthetypesofinformationavailableonthesiteaswellasinformationabouttheorganizationthatpublishesthesite.Whatappearstobethepurposeofthesite?Howisthesiteorga-nized?

• IfyoudonothaveInternetaccess,simplyscanthetextandtakeinventoryofitsattributes.Whattypeoftextdoesitappeartobe?Whatarethefeaturesofthetext,includingthepresenceofsuchthingsasheadingsandgraphs?

• ThistextcomesfromanInternetsitewhosedomainnameendsin“.org”insteadofthemorecommon“.com.”Doyouknowwhatthisendingtothesite’saddresssignifies?


Thistextisquitedifferentfromthepreviousthreetexts.Itisnotper-sonalornarrative,asthefirsttwotextswere,norisitaninformativetextdesignedforageneralaudience.Instead,asyouprobablynoticedwhensurveyingthetext,itisaninteractivesite,askingthereadertoprovidedatatoinputandgeneratingspecificinformationbasedontheparticulardataprovidedbytheuser.TheWeb-basedpagesarecalledthe“HumanLifeValueCalculator.”Answerthefollowingquestionsonthebasisofwhatyouknowsofarbeforeyoubegintoread:

• Whatdoyouthinkmightbethepurposeofatextlikethis?• Whomightusethistext?• Sincethistextclaimstocalculatehumanlifevalue,doyouantici-

patethatthiswillhavethemostconnectionstoHamlet’ssoliloquy,Armstrong’sautobiography,orRipley’s Timearticle?Why?


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ThevocabularytermslistedbelowcomefromtheWebsitetext.Manyofthesetermsaresimilartothoseinthelistoflegalandfinancialtermsfrom“WhatIsaLifeWorth?”Inthesamewaythatfindingconnectionsamongideasindifferenttextshelpsustobetterunderstandthoseideas,findingconnectionsamongvocabularywordshelpsustobetterunderstandthosewords.Asyoufinddefinitionsforthetermsbelow,trytoincludeasimilartermfromthepreviousvocabularylists.

• assess• incur• expenditure• consumption• fringebenefits• contribution

Activity 27

Activity 28

Activity 26

Reading

First Reading

Readthroughthetext,notingthewaythatalife’svalueisdeterminedbytheHumanLifeValueCalculator.Payparticularattentiontothedatainput,whichreflectsatwenty-year-oldsinglemotherworkinginaserviceindustry.IfyouhaveaccesstotheWebsiteitself,youcanchooseavarietyofdatainputstoseehowtheresultsvary.Tryprovid-ingdifferentage,gender,occupation,andincomeinformation,andthenexaminetheeffectontheresults.Asyoumakesenseofthecalculatoranditsworkings,makenoteofanyconnectionsyouseetotheprevi-oustextswehaveread.

Rereading the Text

Strategic Marking of the TextThisactivityisavariationonthekindofhighlightingyoudidwiththeTimemagazinearticle.Onceagain,youwillbeusingtwocolorstomarkthetextfortwodifferentaspects.Thistime,however,youwillbeusingthehighlightercolorstoindicateyourownresponsestotheideaswith-inthetext.Withonecolor,highlightthepartsofthetextwithwhichyoufindyourselfinagreement.Usetheothercolortohighlightthepartsofthetextthatyoueitherdisagreewithorthatraisequestionsforyou.

Responding to the TextLookoverthehighlightingyoudidinthepreviousstep.Writeabriefresponse—nomorethaneightsentences—totheHumanLifeValueCalculatorWebsite.TheresponseshoulddescribewhattheWebsiteassertsabouthumanlife’svalueandyourreactionstothoseassertions.Remember,yourresponsedoesn’thavetobeincompleteagreementordisagreementwiththetext;youmightagreewithsomeaspectsanddisagreewithothers.


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Activity 29 Thinking Critically

• TheWebsitetextyouhavebeenstudyingdiffersstructurally(thatis,inthewayitisputtogether)fromthepriortexts.Makealistofseveralofthedifferencesbetweenthistextandtheothers.

• Unliketheothertexts,theHumanLifeValueCalculatorhasnosingleidentifiedauthor.Doesthelackofanamedauthoraffectyourlevelofbeliefinthetext’sideasandpurpose?Howcanyoufindoutmoreaboutthetextandwhoseinterestsitrepresents?

• Didthistextproduceinyouanemotionalresponseofanysort?Ifso,brieflydescribeit.

• Considerthechartsthatthecalculatorproduces.Howwelldoyouunderstandthemeaningofthesecharts?Howdothethreechartsdiffer?Doestheuseofallofthenumberswithinthechartsseemtomakealogicalargumentaboutthevalueoflife?


Asyoudidwiththeprevioustexts,filloutachartentryfortheWebsite.Tofacilitatethistask,youmayrefer,asneeded,tothehighlight-ingyouhavedone,yourresponses,andthequestions(above)youjustanswered.

Activity 30

Activity 31

Connecting Reading and Writing

Activity 32

Writing to Learn

Manyoftheactivitiesyouhavecompletedsofarhaveinvolvedwrit-ing.Thesekindsofinformalwritingassignmentsarepartofaprocesscalled“writingtolearn.”Youhavebeenusingwriting,inessence,asawayforyoutounderstandandinterpretthetextsyouhavebeenread-ing.Suchinformalwritingisalsoausefultoolforhelpingyougetreadytodomoreformalwriting,aswiththewritingassignmentyou’llfindbelow.Tohelpyouconstructaclaimforyouressayasyouworkonthisassignment,besuretorevisittheinformalwritingyouhavedone.Thechart,inparticular,willhelpyoutosynthesizeinformationforyourpaper.

Using the Words of Others

Whenyouwriteanythinginresponsetoatextyouhaveread,youwillhavetodescribeforyourreaderwhattheoriginaltextsays.Thiscanbedonethroughdirectquotations(sayingpreciselywhattheoriginalauthorsaid),paraphrasing(providingaspecificideafromthetext,

Postreading


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Reading the Assignment

Asyoureadtheassignmentbelow,makenoteofthetypeofwritingyouarerequiredtocomplete,thesourcesyoumayneedtodescribeanddiscussinyourwriting,andtheaudienceforyourwriting.

Writing Assignment

Sofarinthisassignmentsequence,wehaveheardanumberofdifferentvoicesgivinginsightsintothevalueoflife.Hamlet’sso-liloquyoffersanemotional,metaphor-ladenglimpseintothethink-ingofayoungmancontemplatingsuicide.LanceArmstrong’sautobiographyusesstorytellingfromafirst-personperspectivetogetacrosshowthefamedcyclistthinksaboutlife.AmandaRipley’sarticlefromTimemagazineprovidesinsightintotheprob-lemsinvolvedintranslatingtheconceptofvaluinglifefromab-stracttermsintoactualdollarsandcents.TheHumanLifeValueCalculatorestablishesspecificcriteriaforassigningmonetaryvaluetoaperson’slife.

Youmightnotfullyagreeordisagreewithanyofthetexts’essen-tialclaimsaboutthevalueoflife.Thismakesyourvoiceanim-portantcontributiontothisdiscussionabouthowweshouldvaluehumanlife.Wheredoyourideasfitintotheterrainmappedbytheothertextswehaveread?Isitrighttoassigndollarvaluestoaperson’slife?Dosufferingandillnessimpacthowweshouldvaluelife?Assumethattheaudienceforyourpiececonsistsofintel-ligentcitizensinterestedinthisissue—thesametypesofpeople,forinstance,whowouldreadTimemagazine.

butputtingitinyourownwords),andsummarizing(providingtheprimaryideasfromthetextinageneralizedform).Theactivitiesyouhavealreadycompletedhaveaskedyoutofindquotations,provideparaphrases,andwritesummaries,soyoushouldbewellpreparedforusingthewordsofShakespeare,Armstrong,Ripley,andthemakersofthehumanlifevaluecalculatorwithinyourformalessay.

Whenyouuseanymethodforrepresentingtheideasfromanothertextinyourownwriting,youmustprovideacitation.Yourteacherwillprobablyalreadyhavedescribedforyouthetypeofcitationyouneedtouseforthisclass,sobesuretofollowthoseinstructionscarefully.Remember,evenwhenyouaresummarizingandparaphrasing,youstillmustattributetheideastotheoriginalwriter.


Activity 33

Writing Rhetorically

Prewriting


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Asyouwriteyouressay,thinkaboutthedifferentwaystheau-thorswehavereadmaketheirpointsaboutvaluinglife.Depend-ingonthepointsyouaretryingtomake,youmightwanttousesomemetaphorsforlife,asHamletdoes,ortellsomestoriesthewayArmstrongdoes.Youmaychoosetoincludesomewordsfrompeopleyouinterview,asRipleydoesinherarticle,oryoumightevenchoosetoestablishsomecriteriaforhowhumanlifeshouldbecalculatedinmonetaryterms.Asyouconstructyouressay,makeconsciouschoicesaboutthewaysyoucanrepresentyourideastoyourreader.

How should our society assign value to human life?

Be sure to refer to and cite the readings. You may also use examples from your personal experience or observations.

Analyzing the Assignment

A“Do/WhatChart”isastrategyyoucanusetoclarifydirections.Tocreatea“Do/WhatChart,”drawaT-graphinyournotes,labelingoneside“Do”andtheotherside“What.”Thenlistverbsfromthepromptinthe“Do”columnandtheobjectsofthoseverbsinthe“What”column.

Do What

Getting Ready to Write

Revisitthechartyoumadewhilereadingthetexts.Payparticularattentiontothecolumnthatasksaboutyouropinionofeachtext’sclaims.Thiswillhelpyoutodeterminewhereyourideasfitwithinthe“conversation”aboutvaluinglifethattakesplaceinthetextsweread.Trywritingsentencesthatfillintheseblanksasawayofdeterminingyourownposition.

• “Iagreemostwiththeideasin________because_______________.”• “Iagreeleastwiththeideasin________because_______________.”

Formulating a Working Thesis

Youressay’sthesisistheprimaryclaimthatyouwillbemakingaboutvaluinglife.Thereareseveralattributesofclaimsthatformthebasisofsuccessfulessays.Agoodclaimis:

• Clear.Yourreadershouldeasilyunderstandyouressay’sclaim.• Compelling.Theclaimshouldbeinterestingtoyourreaderand

shouldmakethereaderwanttoreadyourentirepaper.

Activity 34


Activity 35

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• Complex. Aclaimthatistoosimplewillnotengageyourreaderandwon’tcontributesignificantlytothe“conversation”aboutthetopic.

• Contestable. Anyclaimthatnoonewoulddisagreewithisunlikelytobeofinteresttoyourreader.

Trywritingafewclaimsforyouressay.Itmightbehelpfultothinkofyourclaimasaresponsetoaspecificquestionwhoseanswermatterstotheessay’saudience.Forinstance,yourclaimshouldtrytoanswerthequestion,“HowshouldpeoplevaluelifeincontemporaryAmericansociety?”Yourclaimcouldtaketheformofasentencethatcombinesbothanassertion—astatementofyouropinion—andarationale—ageneralizedreasoninsupportoftheassertion.Hereareacoupleofexamplesofclaimsthattakethisform:

• Schoolsshouldputmoremoneyintoacademicsthanintoathleticsbecausetheprimarygoalofaschoolistoeducatestudents,nottotrainathletes.

• TheStar Wars filmsremainpopularbecausetheyshowtheclassictaleofanindividual’striumphoveroppression.

Putyourclaimintothisassertion-rationaleform,andyouwillbereadytobegindraftingyouressay.


Activity 36

Writing

Activity 37

Composing a Draft

Everywriter’sprocessforcraftingapaper’sfirstdraftisunique.Someprefertowriteanentirepaperatasinglesitting;otherscarefullyplanthepaperwithoutlinesormapspriortowriting.Theimportanceofapaper’sfirstdraftisthatitprovidesanopportunityforyoutoshapeyourideasintoacoherent,writtenform.

Organizing the Essay

Thereareasmanywaysoforganizinganessayastherearewriters.Evenso,essayswillalwayshaveabeginning,middle,andend.

• Thebeginning—whichmaybeoneormoreparagraphslong—setsuptheessay’scentralquestionandclaim.

• Themiddleoftheessayprovidesideasandevidencefortheclaimyouaremaking.Theevidenceyouprovidemaycomeinanumberofforms,includingquotationsfromthetextswehavereadandexamplesfromyourownlifeandexperience.Thechartyouhavecompletedmaybehelpfulinthisregard.

• Theendiswhereyoureachconclusionsaboutthequestionandarguethatyourclaimisthemostreasonablewayofansweringthequestion.


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Developing the Content

Readthefollowingguidelinesaboutdevelopingsupportforyouressayanddiscussthemwithyourclassmates.

• Bodyparagraphsgiveevidenceintheformofexamples,illustra-tions,statistics,andsoforthandanalyzethemeaningoftheevidence.

• Eachbodyparagraphisusuallydirectlyrelatedtothequestionthattheclaimisattemptingtoanswer.

• Nosetnumberofparagraphsmakeupanessay.

Revising and Editing

Activity 38

Activity 39 Revising the Draft

Revisingyouressaymeanslookingatitagain.Revisionisoftendif-ficultbecauseaswriters,weknowwhatwearetryingtosay;ouressays,therefore,makesensetous.Inordertoreviseeffectively,wehavetobeabletolookatourwritingfromanewperspective.Hav-ingclassmatesorothersreadourworkprovidesnewviewpointsthatcanleadustoreviseeffectively.Rememberthatthepointisnotforthereadersto“fix”youressay;thereaders’jobissimplytogiveyoufeedbackabouthowtheyreadandmadesenseofyouressay.Asthewriter,youareinchargeofrespondingtowhatyourreaderstellyouabouttheessayanddoingtheworknecessarytomakeitmorereader-friendlyandeffective.

Yourteachermayprovideyouwithsomeactivitiesforrevisingyoures-say.Somesuggestionsforwaystolookatyouressaythatwillprovideyouwithfeedbackarelistedbelow:

• Putyourdraftasideforafewdays,andthenrereadit.Thisallowsyoutodevelopsome“criticaldistance”fromtheessayandusuallymakesiteasiertoseeplacesthatmayneedsomerevision.

• Askaclassmatetoreadtheessaywithafewhighlightersorcoloredpencils.Theycanuseredtosignifyplaceswhereyouusedpower-fulwords,greenforideasthatneedto“grow”alittlemore,andsoforth.

• Haveacoupleofclassmatesreadyouressayoutloudtogetherwhileyouoverheartheirconversationabouttheessay.Astheystopanddiscussvariouspartsofthepaper,payattentiontowhattheysay.Theirreactionsmaygiveyouverygoodinsightsintohowtoreviseyourpaper.


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Editing the Draft

Editingisoftenconfusedwithrevising,buteditinghasmoretodowithmakingyouressay“clean”—thatis,freeoferrors—whilerevisingisaboutmakingyourideascomethroughasclearlyaspossible.Ofcourse,editingmayhappenallthroughtheprocessofwriting,buttheeditingstageofwritingcomeswhenyouressayisnearlyinitsfinishedform.Editingyourpaperislikegivingacaranicetune-upandpolishbeforeacarshow;itletsthepaperreallyshine.Herearesomeideasforeditingyourpaper:

• Readyourpaperaloud.Thiswillhelpyouidentifyplaceswhereasentencedoesn’tsoundquiterightorspotswhereyoumightneedtoadjustpunctuationorwordchoice.

• Askaclassmateorparenttoreadthepaperandmakesuggestionsaboutsentenceconstruction,punctuation,verbtenses,andspelling.

• Runtheessaythroughthecomputer’sspellingandgrammarcheck.Makesuretolookcarefullyatthesuggestionsmadebythecomput-erandasksomeoneyoutrust—ateacher,classmate,orparent—ifyouhavedoubts.Computersoftensuggestthewrongwordformisspellings(ifyoumisspell“definitely”bywriting“definately,”forexample,thecomputerwillprobablysuggestthatthecorrectspellingis“defiantly”),sopaycloseattention.

Reflecting on the Writing

Afteryouressayisfinished,reflectontheprocessesyouwentthroughtowritethepaper.Answerthefollowingquestions:

• Howhelpfuldidyoufindthehighlighting,charting,andquestion-answeringactivities?

• Howmuchwasyourwritingaffectedbyhavingkeptnotesinthecharts?

• Howhelpfulweretheprewritingandrevisingactivities?• Whatdidyoulearnfromreadingandwritinginthisassignment

module?• Whichstrategieswillyouuseagainwhenyouareaskedtoreadand

writeassignmentslikethisoneinthefuture?

Activity 40

Activity 41


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Documents

The Value of Life - Pleasanton Unified School District Value of Life Reading selections for this module: Shakespeare, William. Hamlet. ... What does being alive mean to you? How do