Eng 2D1Literature Circles

Selection ASorry, Time’s Up

Abow, Keith. What Jack Kevorkian Didn’t Understand About Death http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2011/06/03/what-dr-jack-kevorkian-didnt-understand-about-death/#ixzz2bM1U1YsM

Harren, Mia." Overpopulation Is a Myth." The Catholic Anchor (n.d.): n. pag. Web. 27 July 2013. http://www.lifenews.com/2011/05/29/overpopulation-is-a-myth-plenty-of-food-and-space-exists

Harrsion, Harry. Make Room! Make Room! (excerpt) http://www.amazon.co.uk/Make-Room-Penguin-Modern-Classics

Nolan, William. Logan’s Run (excerpt) http://staff.osuosl.org/~bkero/logansrun.pdf

Robinson, Spider. No Renewal (http://missjagmohan.wikispaces.com/file/view/No+Renewal.pdf)

Scott, Duncan Campbell, The Forsaken (http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/the-forsaken/)

Urbonas, Julijonas. "Euthanasia-coaster." Projects - Euthanasia-coaster. N.p., 2010. Web. 27 July 2013. http://www.julijonasurbonas.lt/p/euthanasia-coaster

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Literature Circle Overview

Over the next few weeks, you will be working with a selection of fiction and non-fiction pieces--both poetry and prose-- based on a particular theme or topic. You will get a chance to read all of the packages before you choose the one that interests you the most. Once everyone has selected, you will be put in literature circles.

Literature circles should foster rich discussion about each piece. Your ideas and those of the other members of the group will help you produce quality work.

Each member of the literature circle will submit the following pieces of writing:

3 Journals2 Responses to Questions1 Short Essay (Based on Seminar)

In addition, you literature circle group will give a seminar which will focus on the particular theme presented in your package.

Suggestions and Reminders

Take rough notes to support the literature circle discussions and your responses to the required activities.

Look ahead to see the expectations for each selection. It will help you and your group to focus on the required tasks.

You cannot take the packages home. If you need to review any material, then copy the web address and access it from home.

All written assignments must be submitted in MLA format.

Everyone must share the presentation time for the group seminar.

Although you are sharing ideas with other members of the group, all marks are individual. You may choose the same activity as another member of your circle, but you cannot submit an identical assignment.

Your teacher will be grading learning skills throughout the literature circle activities.

If you are absent for the literature circle sessions, you are expected to speak with the members of the circle to find out what material was missed. You are still responsible for you role in the literature circle.

Begin Reading:

The Forsaken

I

Once in the winterOut on a lakeIn the heart of the north-land, Far from the FortAnd far from the hunters, A Chippewa womanWith her sick baby, Crouched in the last hoursOf a great storm.Frozen and hungry,She fished through the iceWith a line of the twistedBark of the cedar,And a rabbit-bone hookPolished and barbed;Fished with the bare hookAll through the wild day,Fished and caught nothing;While the young chieftainTugged at her breasts,Or slept in the lacingsOf the warm tikanagan.All the lake-surfaceStreamed with the hissingOf millions of iceflakesHurled by the wind;Behind her the roundOf a lonely islandRoared like a fireWith the voice of the stormIn the deeps of the cedars.Valiant, unshaken,She took of her own flesh,Baited the fish-hook,Drew in a gray-trout,Drew in his fellows,Heaped them beside her,Dead in the snow.Valiant, unshaken, She faced the long distance, Wolf-haunted and lonely,

Sure of her goalAnd the life of her dear one: Tramped for two days, On the third in the morning, Saw the strong bulkOf the Fort by the river, Saw the wood-smokeHand soft in the spruces, Heard the keen yelpOf the ravenous huskiesFighting for whitefish: Then she had rest.

II

Years and years after, When she was old and withered, When her son was an old manAnd his children filled with vigour, They came in their northern tour on the verge of winter, To an island in a lonely lake.There one night they camped, and on the morrowGathered their kettles and birch-barkTheir rabbit-skin robes and their mink-traps,Launched their canoes and slunk away through the islands,Left her alone forever,Without a word of farewell,Because she was old and useless,Like a paddle broken and warped,Or a pole that was splintered.Then, without a sigh,Valiant, unshaken,She smoothed her dark locks under her kerchief,Composed her shawl in state,Then folded her hands ridged with sinews and corded with veins,Folded them across her breasts spent with the nourishment of children,Gazed at the sky past the tops of the cedars,Saw two spangled nights arise out of the twilight,Saw two days go by filled with the tranquil sunshine,Saw, without pain, or dread, or even a moment of longing:Then on the third great night there came thronging and throngingMillions of snowflakes out of a windless cloud;They covered her close with a beautiful crystal shroud,Covered her deep and silent.But in the frost of the dawn,Up from the life below,

Rose a column of breathThrough a tiny cleft in the snow,Fragile, delicately drawn,Wavering with its own weakness,In the wilderness a sign of the spirit,Persisting still in the sight of the sunTill day was done.Then all light was gathered up by the hand of God and hid in His breast, Then there was born a silence deeper than silence, Then she had rest.

Duncan Campbell Scott

The Euthanasia Roller Coaster

Urbonas, Julijonas. "Euthanasia-coaster." Projects - Euthanasia-coaster. N.p., 2010. Web. 27 July 2013. <http://www.julijonasurbonas.lt/p/euthanasia-coaster/>.

“Euthanasia Coaster” is a hypothetic euthanasia machine in the form of a roller coaster, engineered to humanely – with elegance and euphoria – take the life of a human being. Riding the coaster’s track, the rider is subjected to a series of intensive motion elements that induce various unique experiences: from euphoria to thrill, and from tunnel vision to loss of consciousness, and, eventually, death. Thanks to the marriage of the advanced cross-disciplinary research in mechanical engineering, space medicine, fairground psychology and, of course, gravity, the fatal journey is made pleasant, elegant and ritualistic. Celebrating the limits of the human body but also the liberation from the horizontal life, this ‘kinetic sculpture’ is in fact the ultimate roller coaster: John Allen, former president of the famed Philadelphia Toboggan Company, once sad that “the ultimate roller coaster is built when you send out twenty-four people and they all come back dead. This could be done, you know.”

Experience

Seated, harnessed with a health monitoring system, and strapped to the seat of a single-seat coaster vehicle, you are slowly towed to the top of the drop-tower. It takes a while, as the ride is about half a kilometre long! Hence, you have a few minutes to contemplate your decision and your life in retrospect. You even find enough time to adapt to the height and get through a series of imaginary fatal falls, while realising that the objects on the ground are getting smaller. Slow lift is an important illusion that intensifies the perception of height. The slightest movement of the car triggers drumming heartbeats and tests your decision… The top! If this test has not changed your mind yet, then at this point you have no choice but to submit yourself to the very last fall. Yet you still have a few minutes for the last words and goodbyes, or just enjoying the exhilarating bird’s-eye view of the surroundings. You relax and press the FALL button. Whirrr… swish – the ultimate surrender to gravity! No, you realize, in fact it is even greater than just giving up, as in the blink of an eye you enter the heart-line, the whirling element of the coaster track, where your heart stays roughly in line with the centre of the fall trajectory. In other words, your body spins around the heart while you fall. Gravitational choreography! The scooting gust of wind, goose bumps, suspension of breath, and vertigo — a set of experiences comprising a sort of fairground anaesthesia — prepare you for the fatal part of the ride.

Now you are already falling at a speed close to the terminal velocity, when the force of air drag becomes equal to the force of gravity, thus cancelling the acceleration. You feel your body as if supported by an air pillow. Just after this point, the track smoothly straightens forward, entering the first loop of the coaster, a continuously upward-sloping section of the track that eventually results in a complete 360-degree circle, completely inverting the riders at the topmost part. The

centrifugal force drives the car upward, and you are literally pinned to the seat, your buttocks’ flesh is pressed against the ergonomic planes of the seat so hard that your whole body is almost immobilised. The tissues of your face start drooping down — it looks like ageing remarkably. Breathing requires more effort, as the ribs and the rest of the internal organs are pulled down, which empties air from the lungs. But most probably you are already unconscious, as this force rushes the blood to the lower extremities of the body, thereby causing oxygen deficiency in the brain. It is exactly this cerebral suffocation, also known as cerebral hypoxia, that is going to kill you. If you are still conscious, you are more resistant to the high g-forces than the majority of people, but don’t worry: the loop is engineered in such a way that the force will remain constant despite the changes in speed, thus ensuring that the painful level of acceleration is not reached. And be assured, the second loop will definitely do its job. In the meantime, if you are lucky, or, rather, g-force-resistant enough to be awake, your vision may blur, lose colour (greyout) and peripheral sight (tunnel vision), or even disappear completely (blackout), together with hearing. Eventually, this experience — accompanied with disorientation, anxiety, confusion, and, most importantly, euphoria — is crowned with G-LOC (g-force induced loss of consciousness), during which the body is completely limp, and vivid bizarre dreams occur, such as being in a maze and unable to get out, or floating in a white space, not knowing who you are, why you are here, etc. Of course, you can tell the story only if you survive, which is virtually impossible. But you might ignore this and suppose you have survived. You would soon recover from G-LOC, remaining unconscious, and your body would flail around in a chaotic fit that is called ‘funky chicken’ in aeromedical slang, as the neurons in the brain – replenished with extra oxygenated blood pumped harder from the heart – begin firing once again. This causes arms and legs to twitch uncontrollably. Finally, coming around, although still confused and disoriented, unable to remember anything, you would regain your memories in a few hours, and they would be one of the most memorable, with a peculiar souvenir on your legs: little red pinpoints all over the skin as a result of blood leaks through the blood vessels, a sort of gravitational measles.

The rest of the ride, six or five loops, proceeds with your body being numb, ensuring that the trip ends your life. You die, or, more accurately put, your brain dies of complete oxygen deprivation, a legal indicator of death in many jurisdictions. The biomonitoring suit double-checks if there is a need for the second round, which is extremely unlikely, as the result is guaranteed by seven-fold repetition.

Make Room! Make Room! Make Room! Make Room! was written in 1966. Paul Ehrlich, an American scientist, wrote this introduction to the paperback version of the novel.

Introduction

One of the most ominous trends in a world replete with ominous trends is the accelerating growth of urban populations. In part, this is directly due to the population explosion—people are being born at a faster rate than they are dying. But population growth also contributes indirectly. For instance, as the total world population skyrockets, more and more pressure develops to mechanize farming, and farm workers displaced by tractors and combines go to seek their fortunes in the city. And, of course, many people just prefer to live in cities. The results of the "population explosion" in cities are getting increasing publicity. Tokyo Bay is frantically being filled with garbage in order to obtain land for expansion of a city already so crowded that there is a two-year wait for middle class apartments. Calcutta today has hundreds of thousands of people living homeless in its streets; yet it seems inevitable that Calcutta's population will increase to 12 million by 1990, if the city grows only as fast as the rest of India. In the underdeveloped countries, cities increased in size by 55 percent in the decade 1950-1960. When the data for 1960-1970 are available, urban growth for that decade can be expected to have been even more spectacular. The inability of those countries to care for their burgeoning urban populations is easily seen in the spectacular slums associated with them.

Less visible are the high rates of unemployment and social unrest that follow such rapid urbanization. The developed countries, with an overall rate of urban growth less than half that of the poor nations, have also faced increasingly serious problems in their cities. These have been especially intense in the United States, where the urban population has more than doubled in the last half century, and the proportion of urban dwellers has changed from less than half of the population to nearly three fourths. The problems of American cities, such as the degeneration of city centers and uncontrolled growth and development at the periphery, have been the topic of an enormous volume of literature. The cities themselves have been the target of numerous, often unsuccessful programs of rehabilitation. Projection of even the mid-range future of urban areas presents well nigh insuperable problems.

We can be reasonably sure of some things, however. For instance, the current pattern of urban population growth won't continue much past the turn of the century. Demographer Kingsley Davis has projected those growth trends, with startling results. If the post-1950 rates of urban growth continue to 1984, half of the human race will be living in cities. By 2023 everyone would live in an urban area, and by 2044 everyone would live in cities with a million or more population. If by some negative miracle the trends continued that long, the largest "city" would have a population of 1.4 billion souls, one of every 10 human beings. But the results of such projections, while instructive, are also preposterous. We know things won’t work out that way as far as the numbers living in cities are concerned. Moreover, we are completely ignorant of future trends in urban living conditions. We must leave these to our imaginations—or better yet to the

talented imaginations of writers like Harry Harrison. Make Room! Make Room! presents a gripping scenario of where current trends may be leading. Such scenarios are important tools in helping us to think about the future, and in bringing home to people the possible consequences of our collective behavior. When such a serious goal can be achieved through an engrossing work of fiction we are doubly rewarded.

Thank you, Harry Harrison.

Paul R. Ehrlich

Harry HarrisonMAKE ROOM! MAKE ROOM!

basis for the movie "Soylent Green"To

TODD and MOIRAFor your sakes, children,

I hope this proves to be a work of fiction.

PROLOGUEIn December, 1959, The President of the United States, Dwight D. Eisenhower, said: "This government... will not... as long as I am here, have a positive political doctrine in its program that has to do with this problem of birth control. That is not our business." It has not been the business of any American government since that time. In 1950 the United States—with just 9.5 per cent of the world's population—was consuming 50 per cent of the world's raw materials. This percentage keeps getting bigger and within fifteen years, at the present rate of growth, the United States will be consuming over 83 per cent of the annual output of the earth's materials. By the end of the century, should our population continue to increase at the same rate, this country will need more than 100 per cent of the planet's resources to maintain our current living standards. This is a mathematical impossibility—aside from the fact that there will be about seven billion people on this earth at that time and—perhaps—they would like to have some ofthe raw materials too. In which case, what will the world be like?

MONDAY, AUGUST 9, 1999

NEW YORK CITY—stolen from the trusting Indians by the wily Dutch, taken from the law-abiding Dutch by the warlike British, then wrested in turn from the peaceful British by the revolutionary colonials. Its trees were burned decades ago, its hills leveled and the fresh ponds drained and filled, while the crystal springs have been imprisoned underground and spill their pure waters directly into the sewers. Reaching out urbanizing tentacles from its island home, the city has become a megalopolis with four of its five boroughs blanketing half of one island over a hundred miles long, engulfing another island, and sprawling up the Hudson River onto the mainland of North America.

The fifth and original borough is Manhattan: a slab of primordial granite and metamorphic rock

bounded on all sides by water, squatting like a steel and stone spider in the midst of its web ofbridges, tunnels, tubes, cables and ferries. Unable to expand outward, Manhattan has writhed upward, feeding on its own flesh as it tears down the old buildings to replace them with the new, rising higher and still higher—yet never high enough, for there seems to be no limit to the people crowding here. They press in from the outside and raise their families, and their children and their children's children raise families, until this city is populated as no other city has ever been in the history of the world.On this hot day in August in the year 1999 there are—give or take a few thousand—thirty-fiveMillion people in the City of New York.

PART ONE . . . (Harrison’s story begins here with an introduction of the protagonist)

Overpopulation is a Myth

Mia Harren

Harren, Mia. “Overpopulation Is a Myth." The Catholic Anchor (n.d.): n. pag. LifeNews.com. Web. 27 July 2013

(Check out the videos on this website. What do you think?)

With the world population at around 6.8 billion last year, food and living space are hardly a concern. In 1990, it was estimated that the world could feed up to 35 billion people. Most sources estimate that the global population will level out at around 9.2 billion in 2050, and then start to decline.

Indian economist Raj Krishna estimates that India alone is capable of increasing crop yields to the point of providing the entire world’s food supply.

Lack of food is not the problem but rather the need for more efficient distribution.

Another supposed problem is living space.

In 2003, the entire population of the world could fit inside the state of Arkansas. The world may seem crowded, but it’s because humans cluster together for trade and companionship, not for lack of room. Even so, there are those who insist that we will continue to breed exponentially, causing a population explosion.

Paul Ehrlich first introduced this idea in 1968 with his book, “The Population Bomb.” It succeeded in scaring the masses, just as Thomas Malthus did, but these theories suffer under the impression that humans are the only thing fluctuating.

“Population rose six-fold in the next 200 years. But this is an increase, not an explosion, because it has been accompanied, and in large part made possible, by a productivity explosion,

a resource explosion, a food explosion, an information explosion, a communications explosion, a science explosion, and a medical explosion,” wrote community development specialist Abid Ullah Jan in an article published in 2003 called “Overpopulation: Myths, Facts, and Politics.”

Poverty, too, is not the effect of overpopulation, but rather the aftermath of poor leadership. In Ethiopia, government officials are blamed for causing poverty by confiscating food and exporting it to buy arms.

In Africa, economic problems are seen as a result of excessive government spending, taxes on farmers, inflation, trade restrictions and too much government ownership.

Depopulation is more likely to cause economic distress than these other factors.

Consumers are the largest component of GDP. If you drop that, it drags down the whole economy. Schools close for lack of students, neighborhoods are void of children, labor shortages cramp productivity and the list goes on.

With fewer children we would be faced with an aging population causing generational warfare on government spending. Social Security and Medicare are unsustainable unless each generation of taxpaying workers is larger than the one before it. Fertility should be encouraged, not seen as a crime.

The myth of overpopulation has been exposed as fertility rates continue to fall drastically, in many cases below replacing rate. The lowest replacement rate is 2.1 children per woman, yet many countries like Italy and Russia are closer to 1.69.

Even without so-called “population control,” fertility rates have dropped as women put off marriage and children to pursue higher education.

Population control, often mislabeled as “reproductive rights,” today consists of sterilization, contraception, abortion and open discouragement of fertility.

China’s notorious one-child policy which includes forced abortions and sterilizations will lead to a collapsing culture as the population plummets.

The sad reality of sterilization is if a woman has a child, and gets sterilized afterwards, and her child tragically dies young, she can never have another.

Not only are forced abortions  a waste of human potential (which developing child could have been the next Mozart or Einstein?), abortion drugs administered to women in foreign countries also often cause serious complications. Medical posts in Africa or Peru are filled with contraceptives and other population control related items, but they often lack basics needed for overall health.

These options are wrong, not just morally, but logically and medically speaking. If the money spent on population control were moved to child survival programs, imagine the positive results.

Instead of pushing so-called “safe sex” we should promote the Catholic Church’s teachings on responsible parenthood. In this modern world, sex has become solely a source of pleasure, with children as a side effect. Sex should be recognized for what it is — an act of life.

Natural family planning, in which couples are open to the miracle of new life, is the only form of spacing of children acceptable to the church because it does not separate the two components of the sexual act — union and procreation. Catholicism stresses heavily the importance of both components being present.

Our faith calls us to be generous in welcoming children into this world.

Yes, our lifestyles need to change, but not in the way population control advocates prescribe. The world’s problems cannot be defined by one false theory.

The myth of overpopulation needs to be dispelled. The proof is before our eyes.

. Logan’s Run

By William Nolanhttp://staff.osuosl.org/~bkero/logansrun.pdf

The seeds of the Little War were planted in a restless summer during the mid-1960s, with sit-ins and student demonstrations as youth tested its strength. By the early 1970s over 75 per cent of the people living on earth were under twenty-one years of age.The population continued to climb—and with it the youth percentage.In the 1980s the figure was 79.7 per cent.In the 1990s, 82.4 per cent.In the year 2000—critical mass.

Chapter 10 (He numbers his chapters in reverse order)

Her hair was matted, her face streaked and swollen. One knee oozed slow blood; she's cut it on a steel abutment.A stitching pain lived in her side.She ran.There was a high lovers' moon and the night was full of shapes. Shadows slid on shadows.When had she crossed the river? Was it last night or the night before? Where was she now? She didn't know.Off to her right she could see an unending length of metal mesh beyond a stretch of dead asphalt. Far out on the pavement sea was a cluster of teeter-swings. An industrial nursery; it had to be Stoneham or Sunrise.Perhaps her baby was there!

She veered to the left, away from the mesh, into the deep night-black between buildings. Abruptly she found her passage blocked by a high board barrier. She turned. Maybe she could double back over the river. If she could only rest.Wait! She froze, remained motionless. There was someone in the shadows ahead. A silent scream ripped at her throat.Sandman!Panic drove her heart against her chest in shuddering strokes. She spun about, clawed at the blistered boards, her fingernails breaking as she sought a grip on the coarse wood. The fence was too high. For an instant (a century?) she clung there, trying to will her muscles to lift her oh-so-heavy body, but all the energy was gone. Something tore inside her, and she crumpled at the base of the wood. Huddled into herself, she studied the char-black flower crystal centered in the palm of her right hand. A few days ago it had been a warm blood-red—just as seven years before it had been electric-blue, and seven years earlier, sun-yellow. A color for each seven years of her life. Now she was twenty-one and her flower was dull black. Sleep black. Death black. he figure moved calmly toward her, across the moon-pavement. She didn't look up. She stared at her palm, because her future and her past were written there. All of her days and her nights and her fears and her hopes.Why had she believed in Sanctuary? Insane. Impossible. Why hadn't she been like all the others who had accepted Sleep?Now the dark figure, in black, stood over her, but she did not look up. She didn't beg because begging was useless.Instead she remade the world.She was not here, outlawed and condemned, shamed and terrified; she was in Sanctuary—on a wide, wind-lazy meadow beside a cool stream of silver—a world in which time did not exist.Then why was her hand scrabbling under her torn clothing for the vibroknife she'd hidden there?Why the urgency to plunge the buzzing steel through breast and rib into her heart? Why?She saw the Gun come up.The homer!She saw the moonlight dazzle off the dark-blue barrel.The homer!She saw the pale, tight-set face of the Sandman, and saw his eyes above the Gun, as his fingerswhitened on the trigger.The homer!There was a soft explosion.That was the last thing she heard.And the last thing she felt was raw, blinding agony, as the homer struck, burned, ripped andunraveled her.********************************************************Logan was tired, but the little man kept talking.

"You know how it is, citizen." he said "Nobody feels like he's done it all. All the traveling, all the girls, all the living. I'm no different from anybody else. I'd like to live to be twenty-five, thirty…but it just isn't going to happen. And I can accept that. I've got no regrets. None to linger on, I mean. I've lived a good life. I've had my share and nobody can say that Sawyer is a whiner."

He was talking compulsively. As long as he talked he didn't have to think. Logan had seen a lot of them on Last day, talking away the final hours.

"You know what I'm going to do?" asked the man, whose palm-flower was blinking red, then black, then red. He didn't wait for a reply. He went on in a rapid voice, telling Logan exactly what he was going to do.

Logan had changed to grays back in DS Headquarters, and he wondered if the man would be talking to him if he were in his black tunic. No doubt he would Sawyer was obviously the type who went through life unworried about Deep Sleep men and Guns. Which was proper. He was a good citizen, and good citizens made a stable world.

"—and then I'm going over to the Castlemont Glasshouse and get myself three of the youngest,prettiest girls in the stagroom. One will be blond. You know, with deep-blue eyes and blue-white hair.Then I'll get one with short black hair and one with golden-brown skin. Three beauties. I hear they'll do anything for you when you're on Lastday."

The man looked at his palm. The flower bloomed red, then black, then red. "Did you ever wonder if the Thinker makes mistakes, the same as people do? Because it doesn't seem like I've turned twenty one.It really doesn't. It seems I turned fourteen maybe five years ago. That would make me justnineteen." He said this without conviction. "I remember the day, when my flower changed and I was fourteen. I was in Japan, and it was the first time I'd visited Fujiyama. Wonderful mountain! Inspiring!Ever see it?"Logan nodded. He'd seen it."I sure remember the day. Couldn't have been more than five years ago—maybe six. Do you think the machine could make that kind of mistake?"Logan didn't want to remember how many years had passed since he'd been fourteen. Of late he had tried not to think about this. His flower was still a steady red, but…"No," said Sawyer, answering his own question. "The machine wouldn't make that kind of a mistake."He was silent for a long moment; then, in a quiet voice, he said, "I suppose I'm scared." His flower blinked red, black, red, black."Most people are," said Logan."But not this scared," said the man. He swallowed, raised a hand. "Don't get me wrong, citizen. I'm no coward. I'm not going to run. I have my pride. The system is right, I know that. World can only support so much life. Got to be a way to keep the population down…I've been loyal and I won't change now."The two sat quietly as the rumbling belt carried them up through the three mile complex.At last the man spoke again: "Do you really believe that a homer is—is as terrible as they say it is?"Yes," said Logan. "I believe it.""What gets me is the way it finds a runner. Once it's fired at him, I mean. The way it homes in on the body heat. They say it burns out your whole nervous system. Every nerve in your body."Logan didn't answer.

What Dr. Jack Kevorkian Didn't Understand About DeathBy Dr. Keith Ablow

Published June 03, 2011 FoxNews.com

Jack Kevorkian, known as “Doctor Death” for assisting patients he deemed terminally ill to end their lives, has died. Kevorkian claimed to have “assisted” in at least 130 suicides, beginning in1990. He was charged with murder four times, being acquitted in three cases and having a mistrial declared in another.

On March 26, 1999 Kevorkian was charged with second degree murder after administering a lethal injection to ALS victim Thomas Youk, at Mr. Youk’s request. He was convicted and sentenced to 10 to 25 years in jail, but paroled in 2007 after serving just 8 years.

Kevorkian brought the debate on euthanasia front and center in America and was willing to be jailed to make his point. At a time when medical science was offering more and more ways to extend life, but often not offering any improved quality of life, Kevorkian argued that an individual should be able to actively decide to die.

Despite his passion and his willingness to use civil disobedience to change the way we view suffering and death, there are many problems with Kevorkian’s view of the proper place of euthanasia in the world.

First, it neglects the way in which his own psyche might have colored that view. Kevorkian was utterly fascinated by death. His mother had fled and survived the Armenian death marches organized by Muslim Turks during the early part of the 20th century.

He decided to become a pathologist. That means that he elected a medical specialty focused on diseased tissues and ones from dead bodies. Pathology is a fascinating and important field, but, when one adds to Kevorkian’s specialty interest the fact that he photographed the eyes of dying patients while a pathology resident, one can legitimately wonder whether his interest in dying bordered on unhealthy obsession.

A legitimate question remains whether Kevorkian was a dedicated, though misguided, physician, or a serial killer taking refuge under the mantel of the profession. If a serial killer, he was perhaps the most prolific in the history of the world.

Second, Kevorkian didn’t merely champion the rights of dying patients to refuse treatment, he argued for physician-assisted suicide. In so doing, he suggested that the medical profession should abandon its sole focus on combating illness and extending life and make physicians available to also actively end life. He did not account for the fact that incorporating that dichotomy of motivations within a healing profession could easily diminish the zealousness and purity of spirit with which doctors would fight to prolong life in the elderly and terminally ill, even if no assisted suicide were requested.

Kevorkian also neglected the fact that opening the door to physician-assisted suicide would inevitably lead to a slippery slope in which forces in society would argue about what really constituted a good and worthwhile life, and when it was better to embrace death.

As a medical reporter years ago, I visited Amsterdam, where physician-assisted suicide was legal. More than one doctor told me that they would certainly consider assisting in the suicide of an amputee if that person felt life was unbearable without four limbs. “If you were a swimmer and you loved swimming, and now your right arm is gone, and you no longer want to live if you can’t swim, I am your man,” one doctor told me over dinner.

Why would we not focus our efforts on conquering chronic pain and curing illness and battling to find reserves of self-esteem even in human beings who assert they have no will to live? Why would we not resolutely and universally help them to see that the next minute or hour or day could be one in which they shared a thought that changed a person’s life, or showed courage in the face of adversity that served as an example that would last that person’s life entire.

Can you imagine a psychiatrist advising a patient that her desire to commit suicide was rational and that he would offer her a referral to a physician to administer her a lethal injection? That is the world Jack Kevorkian wanted to see.

If Jack Kevorkian (and notice that I do not in this article use “Dr.” in front of his name, ever) did not intuit that the slippery slope would certainly manifest itself in America (were assisted suicide widely available) then he was either naïve or bloodthirsty. We really can’t know which. What we do know is that he was willing to kill, again and again, even though it was against the law.

Kevorkian also neglected the fact that once assisted suicide law were legislated, there would certainly be those who would seek to expand it beyond the defined parameters of those who were terminally ill (as evidenced by the Amsterdam experience). How about those with unbearable migraine headaches? How about those who are blind? How about those sentenced to penal institutions for 30 years or longer? How about those with mental retardation who are competent to make decisions, but wish not to live with their disabilities? How about the poor?

Kevorkian didn’t envision the millions of misguided families who would be encouraged to wonder, tragically, why a loved one wasn’t electing what would be widely available physician-assisted suicide? Why was their elderly father spending so much money on assisted living or nursing care or medical care when he could decide so easily to die painlessly—and with the blessing of the medical establishment and the government?

Once a society begins to legislate death, human life becomes less valuable. It is like arithmetic. It just happens. It is inevitable.

The German government’s embrace of euthanasia before the Holocaust was no accident.

Kevorkian seemingly didn’t understand that anyone in America or anywhere else can take his or her life painlessly if that person is utterly determined to do so. Sadly, information is available in books and on the Internet about how to bring about one’s own demise with certainty. No one really needed Kevorkian’s help to leave the earth before God took that person.

In sum, Kevorkian’s passing is the passing of a singular threat to our civilized way of thinking and our embrace of the value of human life.

Procedure

A. Readings and Literature Circle Meetings

1. Ensure you have read all the selections in this package.

2. Write point form notes on each of the pieces in this package. Write about the feelings, thoughts, and ideas you experienced as you read each piece. Use specific references from the text to support your view. For each selection, you need to be prepared to share at least 2 observations (with supporting details) and one discussion question.

3. Share your responses with the group. Your teacher will give you more specific instructions for the actual literature circle meetings. Discuss and debate. As you listen to the opinions of the other group members, you may return to your notes and make any revisions you deem necessary.

B. Journal ResponsesChoose three of the texts from this package and write a formal journal response for each (see the rubric at the end of this package for more details). You may find that the ideas from the group helped you form an opinion or changed your feeling entirely. That’s just fine. This is a time for you to reflect on these issues before you continue working on the rest of the package. Submit these three journals in good copy. You cannot use these three selections for the next activities.

C. Questions1. You must choose two texts to complete questions for. You cannot choose the same texts you chose for your journal submissions. Each response should be around 500 words (approximately 2 pages typed, double-spaced). Use specific references from the text for support. Use parenthetical referencing, please.

2. Take turns discussing your choices and responses with members of the group. Use their ideas to help create a meaningful response. Everyone in the circle needs to help each other.

3. Once everyone has rough drafts of the two responses, exchange papers and perform a peer edit.

4. Submit your two responses in good copy.

Questions

1. No Renewal

Gotta love irony.

Continue the story. I know it’s difficult to top the ending to this one because it ends so beautifully, but try . . . Be consistent with the original elements of this short story. Aim for 2 typed, double-spaced pages.

Knowledge /10 Thinking /10 Communication /10 Application /10

2. The Forsaken

You may have discovered that different cultures have various views on the topic of euthanasia. There are several ethical and moral principles to be considered. The Forsaken deals with an historical perspective of the Chippewa.

Research another culture’s historical perspective on the practice of euthanasia. Describe their view and then compare this belief with the one depicted in “The Forsaken.”

Knowledge /10 Thinking /10 Communication /10 Application /10

3. Euthanasia Roller Coaster

a) Did the author of this article support the idea of the euthanasia roller coaster, or did the writer consider it an immoral and diabolical piece of machinery? Find at least five pieces of evidence to support your answer. Ensure you thoroughly explain how each piece of evidence supports your claim.

b) Many people claim that the inventor of the euthanasia roller coaster is a monster who devalues human life. Do you agree? Explain. Use specific references from the article to support your answer.

Knowledge /10 Thinking /10 Communication /10 Application /10

4. Make Room! Make Room!

Read the prologue carefully. The writer is setting you up for a great beginning. If you were going to write this novel, how would you begin? Use the information presented in the prologue to help you create the setting, mood, and plot. Now, what about character?

Write a two-page (typed, double-spaced) beginning to Part One. In you beginning, you must include the following narrative elements:

Character(s)

Dialogue

Description of Setting

Introduction of Conflict

Mood

Pay close attention to sentence structure, grammar, spelling, and punctuation.

(Have a look at the beginning of Soylent Green, the film based on this novel. You can find clips on YouTube. Or, have a peek at the most climactic scene where the hero discovers how exactly the government has gone about feeding the masses...Wowza)

Knowledge /10 Thinking /10 Communication /10 Application /10

5. “Overpopulation is A Myth”

This essay was written by a high school student. It was included here to refute the more dystopian views of the future. Read the essay carefully. Does her argument seem credible? If so, why? If not, why not? Look not only at what she writes, but where the paper was originally published. You may have to do a few minutes research on some of the works and people she cites in her paper before you attempt to answer this question. Also, have a look at the website. There are some interesting videos and a number of posts, which provide some thoughtful commentary on overpopulation.

Write anecdotal comments where you evaluate Knowledge, Thinking, Communication, and Application (see rubrics below for help). Use specific references from this essay for support. Aim for one paragraph per category. As you write these comments, ensure that you address criteria specific to that category. Give the paper Level grade. The grade you give should be justified by the comments.

Knowledge /10 Thinking /10 Communication /10 Application /10

6. Logan’s Run

This novel--turned into a sci-fi thriller feature film in 1976-- shows a world where the government has absolute control over human life, a world where it is one’s duty to die at 21. In order to accept this, one must have been subjected to government propaganda from an early age.

Research the key elements in Logan’s Run by looking at plot summaries and/or film clips. (These are on youtube) Create a pamphlet or poster --you can use software-- which shows how the government can manipulate its citizens into believing that euthanasia is a patriotic duty.

Provide a few paragraphs which help explain your artistic creation.

Knowledge /10 Thinking /10 Communication /10 Application /10

7. Dr. Kevorkian

a) Dr. Keith Ablow uses rhetorical/literary devices to imply that Dr. Kevorkian is a criminal. Identify three rhetorical devices in this editorial and explain the effectiveness of each.

b) Find one news story that would pose a rebuttal to this editorial. Give a summary of the story. (For example, last year many of you looked at the story of Roger Latimer, the man who ended the life of his disabled daughter . . . no, you cannot use this new story. I just wanted you to have an example)

c) Show how the writer in the news story you chose uses rhetorical/literary devices to create empathy for those who choose euthanasia. You must have a works cited page for this.

Knowledge /10 Thinking /10 Communication /10 Application /10

___________________________________________________________________________

D. The SeminarDivide the group so that each member has one of the following roles:

The Manager:

With the assistance of the group, you will oversee how the seminar is organized. What’s the thesis or controlling idea? What should the hook be? How do we prove or argue the thesis? How should the middle sections be organized? Who is responsible for each section? How should it end? What is the universal application?

You need to submit a 1 page point form outline of your seminar before your group presents.

The Creator:

With the assistance of the group, you are the one who sees how this can be presented so it is an audio/visual masterpiece. You should be familiar with presentation software. You need to see the big picture. You need to see how each person’s part contributes to the whole presentation. Your technical skill will pull everyone’s idea together.

The Connector:

You see connections: text to text, text to self, text to world. You often find yourself saying, “Hey, this reminds me of . . .” Your job is to think how other pieces of non -fiction or fictional literature, poetry, film, or personal experience connects to your thesis. This person will probably be responsible for the hook and/ or close. This person should be a reader of all types of literature and media, including daily news reports.

The Researcher:

You enjoy searching databases, journals, and magazines in order to delve deeper into a particular topic. You will work closely with the connector and help the group with their research on this topic. You are responsible for writing the Works Cited page.

Everyone: No matter what your role, your group must pull the individual parts together to create a group seminar of 12-15 minutes. Everyone must have equal presentation time . Consult the rubric to ensure all requirements have been met.

Suggested Steps

Organize your seminar using key-hole structure.

First: Creating the thesis.

1) How did your group feel about the topics presented in “Sorry, Time’s Up?”

2) Your thesis may be the answer to all or one of these questions When is euthanasia acceptable? Is it ever anyone’s duty to die? Is euthanasia a threat to human morality and the value of human life?

3) Write a thesis statement. Your thesis will guide your presentation.

Second: 1) How will you build the seminar? What should go in the introduction? What is the hook? How will the introduction lead to thesis?

2) What are your supporting arguments for the thesis? This will be the body of your seminar. How are you going to order these? (Chronological? In order of importance?)

3) How about the conclusion? Remember the three parts: restate thesis, summarize arguments, and end with a universal application. End with a bang, not a whimper, please.

Third:

Begin the preparation. Ensure you work as a group. Support each other. Assign duties. Write the outline. Prepare the script. Rehearse. Ensure everything is in working order including props/technology for audio/visual aids.

Fourth:

Presentation Day.

Journal Rubric

Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Level 4

Knowledge

/10

Limited knowledge of content, literary devices/ stylistic elements, bias“Seems like you’re struggling with this. Let’s review the key ideas.”

Some knowledge of content, literary devices/ stylistic elements, bias“Might need to review things like literary devices or bias.”

Good knowledge of content, literary devices/ stylistic elements, bias“Great work! You might have one or two little things to improve on.”

Excellent knowledge of content, literary devices/ stylistic elements, bias“It’s like you’re an expert on this!”

Thinking

/10

Limited supporting details for each point.Superior organizational skills. Insightful critical questions.“I need more examples to support your ideas. I’m having trouble understanding your ideas. Don’t take everything the author says at face value”

Some supporting details for each point.Superior organizational skills. Insightful critical questions.“I need a few more examples to support your ideas. It was a bit confusing. I need you to think a little more critically.”

Good supporting details for each point.Superior organizational skills. Insightful critical questions.“Your journal doesn’t leave me with many questions, and I can see you’re questioning what you read.”

Excellent supporting details for each point.Superior organizational skills. Insightful critical questions.“Your journal doesn’t leave me with any questions, and I can see you’re really questioning what you read.”

Commun-ication

/10

Several mechanical errors. Limited paragraph development Poor sentence structure. Major issues with MLA format.“Did you proofread this? You need to state, illustrate, explain.”

A number of mechanical errors. Some paragraph development Mostly accurate sentence structure. Some correct use of MLA format.“You might have a few comma splices or run-ons, but overall I can understand your ideas. Remember to state, illustrate, explain.”

A few mechanical errors. Good paragraph development Accurate sentence structure. Good use of MLA format“Good proofreading, but you missed a couple things. Good use of state illustrate, explain.”

Virtually no mechanical errors. Excellent paragraph development Sophisticated sentence structure. Excellent use of MLA format“Great job proofreading and using the state, illustrate, explain model.”

Application

/10

Limited use of knowledge of content and literary devices to draw conclusions and make connections“No mention of any terms/ideas studied in class. Your response is a bit simplistic. Dig a little deeper.”

Some use of knowledge of content and literary devices to draw conclusions and make connections“You didn’t specifically mention terms/ideas discussed in class but you did make some connections.”

Good use of knowledge of content and literary devices to draw conclusions and make connections“You mentioned a few terms/ideas discussed in class and applied them to what you’re reading. You raised some interesting issues and made connections to other things you’ve read or seen.”

Excellent use of knowledge of content and literary devices to draw conclusions and make connections“Wow! You specifically mentioned a number of terms/ideas discussed in class. You’ve gone above and beyond in terms of making connections and using literary devices. You raised some intriguing issues.”

Seminar Rubric

Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Level 4Knowledge

/25

Demonstrates limited understanding of subject.Thesis unclear or may be absent.Details demonstrate limited or incomplete understanding of texts read.

Demonstrates some understanding of subject.Seminar contains a thesis.Details demonstrate some understanding of texts read.

Demonstrates good understanding of subject.Seminar contains an arguable thesis.Attempts to go beyond the obvious to demonstrate deep understanding of texts read.

Demonstrates excellent understanding of subject.Seminar contains a clear, arguable thesis.Goes beyond the obvious to demonstrate deep understanding of texts read.

Thinking

/25

Presentation seems unrehearsed and poorly organized.(Multiple issues with props, delays, pacing)Limited use of details from the text to support thesis. Details may be irrelevant or absent.

Presentation shows some evidence of rehearsal and some organization. (May have issues with one or more: props, delays, pacing)Some use of details from the text to support thesis.

Presentation shows evidence of rehearsal and is well organized.(eg/ props ready, minimal delays, good timing and pacing)Good use of details from the text to support thesis.

Presentation is highly polished is very well organized (eg/ props ready, no delays, excellent timing and pacing)Excellent use of details from the text to support thesis.

Communication

/25

Presenters are sometimes difficult to hear, make limited eye contact. Some “ums, uhs” or nervous giggles. Need notes. Audio/visual elements absent or do not enhance presentation.

Presenters attempt to speak clearly, attempt to make eye contact, speak with some expression. Some “ums, uhs” or nervous giggles. May need notes.Audio/visual elements somewhat enhance presentation.

Presenters speak clearly, attempt to make eye contact, speak with expression. Very few “ums, uhs” or nervous giggles.Audio/visual elements enhance presentation.

Presenters speak loudly and clearly, at a comfortable pace, make eye contact, speak with expression and enthusiasm. Very few “ums, uhs” or nervous giggles. Audio/visual elements enhance presentation.

Application

/25

Limited ability to make connections between different texts read and explain the differences and similarities between them.

Some ability to make connections between different texts read and explain the differences and similarities between them.

Good ability to make connections between different texts read and explain the differences and similarities between them.

Excellent ability to make connections between different texts read and explain the differences and similarities between them.