“What is a life worth?”

1. “What is a life worth?” Quickwrite 3: How much money should your family be paid if you die due to someone else’s negligence? How would you figure the amount of money? Is the life of a poor person worth as much as that of a wealthy person? What is a life worth?

2. Surveying the Text The article "What is a life worth?" comes from the February 12, 2002, issue of Time magazine: 1. How much time do you think it will take to read the article? 2. Have you read anything from Time magazine? What do you know about that publication? What kinds of articles are commonly included in it? Who usually reads Time?

3. Making Predictions • Read the article’s title and subtitle: • What predictions can you make about the article's content based on reading the subtitle? • What connections do you think you might see between this article and the previous two texts you have read?

4. Preview Vocabulary • Understand: the denotations and connotations, as well as the connections between them. • Create a Vocabulary Chart (Cornell Notes style).

5. Preview Vocabulary Connotations 1. perverse – wrong-minded 2. squeamish – uncomfortable 3. degrading – shameful 4. disparities – inconsistencies 5. forensic economists – people who analyze legal claims for injuries due to major catastrophes 6. valuation – what something is worth

6. Preview Vocabulary Connotations 7. unprecedented – never before seen 8. garish – tasteless; uncomfortable 9. dispersing money – deciding who gets how much money 10. chump change – small amount of $ 11. cold calculus – unfeeling calculation

7. First Reading • Look for the main issues and the various stances people take in response to those issues. • Look for connections to what was previously said about valuing life by Shakespeare and Armstrong. • Consider the way “life” is defined in this text. For example, does “life” refer to a human body, a soul, human experience, existence, or quality of life? Does this definition include a person’s personal life and professional/working life?

8. After 1st Reading • Do you sympathize with any of the victims’ families? Think specifically about the Blombergs (¶ 25), Cheri Sparacio (¶ 26), and Angela Fields (¶ 27). Is it okay that they are each receiving different amounts of (or no) money? How could this be made fair? • How do you feel about Feinberg and the way he is handling this issue? • What are your overall feelings about the issues raised in this article?

9. Strategic Rereading and Evaluating the Text • Highlighting with Two Colors: Choose 2 highlighters and revisit the text. • 1st color = words/sentences that describe valuing life in legal and financial terms. • 2nd color = words/sentences that describe valuing life in human and emotional terms. • Left margin = your thoughts; • Right margin = questions.

10. Annotating the Text • With your partner, choose 7-8 sections of text that you highlighted in the previous step. Make sure you choose sections that represent the entire text. • Left margin = write a comment about the highlighted text. • Right margin = write a question (Costa’s L2 or L3) connected to the highlighted text.

11. Prepare for Socratic Seminar • Choose one of the questions that you wrote in the margin (circle it). This should be a question that you think will generate interesting discussion in our Socratic Seminar. • Additionally, write 2-3 L2 or L3 questions at the end of the text. These are questions that take the entire article (and unit) into account. These will serve as our “umbrella questions” for our Socratic Seminar.

12. Following Socratic Seminar • Write a 1-page reflection following our Socratic Seminar. For most of you, this was your first Socratic Seminar, so focus your reflection on this experience. Was it valuable? What did you learn? What connections did you make? Were there things that you didn’t say that you wish you would have? What went well? What should we improve for the next seminar?

13. Summarizing the Text • Using the sections you highlighted in the previous step, write a summary of the article's descriptions of how life is valued – in financial/legal and emotional/human terms, and people's response to that valuing of life. • The summary should include only the most important ideas and is limited to only six sentences. You may work on this summary with a partner. Note: This is an alternative activity if we do not do Socratic Seminar

14. Connecting the Texts Partners: Discuss how Hamlet and Armstrong would probably react to the way that "What is a life worth?" describes the value of life. Answer the following questions in your notes: 1. Would Hamlet agree with any of the ideas presented in the article? If so, which ones? If not, why not? 2. Would Armstrong agree with any of the ideas in the article? If so, which ones? If not, why not? 3. Would Armstrong and Hamlet be in agreement with each other in the way they would likely interpret this article's ideas? If so, how? If not, why not?

15. Rhetorical Appeals 1. Ethos: 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.

16. Rhetorical Appeals 2. Logos: What kinds of evidence does Amanda Ripley, the author of the article, use to get across the key ideas and issues associated with the compensation of 9/11 victims and their families? Are any specific types of evidence more compelling to you as a reader? Less compelling?

17. Rhetorical Appeals 3. Ethos: How well do you trust the accuracy of the information within the article? In other words, do you think that Time magazine and/or Amanda Ripley are to be trusted? Why or why not?

18. Rhetorical Appeals 4. Logos/Pathos: Does the article use logic and/or emotion to make an impact on the reader? If so, please describe how, and compare the use to the way logic and emotion are used by Shakespeare and/or Armstrong.