What is courage?

1. What is courage?

2. When people decide whether some thing or idea belongs in a certain category, they often use a set of rules to guide their thinking. Working with 2 or 3 of your classmates, do the following:

3. 1. Read each of the following and check yes or no in answer to the question that ends the paragraph. • 2. Write the criterion or rule by which you decided whether the action is or is not courageous. • 3. Write at least one criterion for each scenario (begin your statement, “for an act to be courageous, it must…”). • 4. Some of your decisions will require more than one criterion. In those cases, write as many as necessary.

4. Scenario 1: • Near the end of his officer training, Roger volunteered to go on a mission that the captain said involved “real danger.” The captain used this phrase to describe all missions, so Roger assumed that the mission was just another part of his training. When the plane carrying the men left the ground, Roger was surprised to hear the pilot say the men were part of an invasion of a small Caribbean island. Was Roger’s willingness to volunteer for the mission courageous?

5. Scenario 2: • Out of the corner of his eye, the Secret Service agent spotted a gun aimed at the president. Instantly, he threw himself in the line of fire, taking the bullet meant for the president. Was the agent’s act of jumping in front of the president to protect him and take the bullet courageous?

6. Scenario 3: • In the small town of Clinton, teenage boys liked to play “chicken” with their cars. Two boys raced their cars directly at each other. The first boy to swerve to avoid the crash lost. Were the boys courageous when they played “chicken”?

7. Scenario 4: • Thirteen-year-old James had been beaten many times by a group of boys in his neighborhood. He generally tried to avoid them. One day, they surrounded him in the street. E was so frightened he could not think clearly. In a panic, hardly knowing what he was doing, he ran as hard as he could at the boy nearest him, knocking him to the ground. Was James’ attack courageous.

8. Scenario 5: • Joseph Wadsworth came from a family of military men. Both his father and grandfather had been soldiers. Joseph had no interest in being in the military, but he was afraid that his family would reject him if he did not join the military. He joined the service and volunteered to fight in Afghanistan. Was Joseph courageous when he joined the service and volunteered to fight?

9. Scenario 6: • On Monday, a fire started on an oil derrick far out at sea. By Wednesday, the men working on the derrick had been rescued, but the fire was out of control. Red Granger and his men were called in to fight the dangerous fire. Red and his men had fought many oil fires. They had the training, equipment, and experience to put out the fire. Were Red and his men courageous when they fought the fire?

10. Scenario 7: • On the oceanfront, Mr. Jones heard a swimmer shouting for help. He saw signs indicating that this part of the beach was extremely dangerous because of undertows. A lifeguard asked Jones to help him move a boat into the water to be used to help rescue the drowning man. Instead, Jones said, “Don’t be silly!” He ran into the water to swim out to the drowning person. Was Jones’ effotr to save the swimmer courageous?

11. Scenario 8: • Lesley was an accountant for a bank. Because she handled large sums of money, her work was carefully watched by security cameras and checked by computers. Despite the dangers, Lesley knew she was highly skilled and decided to transfer money from other accounts to her own. Was Lesley’s theft of the money courageous?

12. Scenario 9: • Arriving at school early, Mr. Grabowski assumed he was alone. Then he heard a hissing sound outside his classroom. He walked into the hall and interrupted tow gang members who were painting their gang signs on the wall. Grabowski quietly returned to his room. He wouldn’t tell; the gangs were too dangerous, Was Grabowski’s decision not to inform on the gang members courageous?

13. Scenario 10: • The expert tightrope walker had never had even a minor accident. For a special charity event, she decided to perform without a net. Was her performance without a net courageous?

14. Scenario 11: • Harry learned that millions of dollars in gold would be moved from Washington, D.C., to Chicago. He knew it would be heavily guarded and protected by the very best alarm systems. The security guards were top-notch and heavily armed, Harry and his two companions were also heavily armed when they dropped from a bridge to the top of one of the train’s boxcars. They immediately took fire from a guard stationed on the top of another car. They returned fire, killing the guard. Was their attempt to steal the gold courageous?

15. Scenario 12: • Rose was trapped eight stories up in the burning building. Although rescue workers had attempted to reach her, they could not. With fire beginning to eat away at the floor behind her, she ran to the window. She looked back again and saw flames only about two feet away. Below she saw a large dumpster filled with paper and other debris. She climbed on the sill and jumped as far as she could to reach the dumpster. Was Rose’s jump courageous?