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Date: March 23, 2005
Level: Intermediate +
Downloads: This Lesson (Word Doc) | Class Handout (Word Doc) | Class Handout (PDF)

THE ARTICLE

Events in the right-to-die case of Terri Schiavo took another 180-degree turn earlier today. Despite the intervention of US president George W. Bush earlier in the week, a US federal judge in Florida refused an emergency request to put back the feeding tube that would keep brain-damaged Mrs Schiavo alive. President Bush had made a special law on Monday that took decision making for the case away from Florida State and into the federal government’s hands. The federal judge ruled that the “life and liberty interests” of Mrs Schiavo had been protected by Florida courts, and that it was unlawful for a federal court to judge. He also said her parents had not established a “substantial likelihood of success” of winning a court case to keep their daughter alive.

Mrs Schiavo collapsed in 1990 when her heart stopped beating, cutting the oxygen supply to her brain. She can breathe unaided, but needs the feeding tube to keep her alive. She could survive one to two weeks without the tube. Her husband wants his wife to die naturally and with dignity as she has no hope of recovery. He first asked doctors to remove the feeding tube in 1998. He is convinced his wife would not want to be kept alive in this way; being in a constant vegetative state. Her parents are desperate to keep Terri alive, saying she has a right to live and that she responds to them. Many Americans are angered that President Bush’s move is a political one.

 

WARM UPS

1. CHAT: Talk in pairs or groups about Terri Schiavo / the right to die / being kept alive by a feeding tube / the husband’s wishes / the parents’ wishes / the right to live / President Bush’s motives / …

To make things more dynamic, try telling your students they only have one minute (or 2) on each chat topic before changing topics / partners. Change topic / partner frequently to increase conversation.

2. LIFE BRAINSTORM: Spend one minute writing down all of the different words you associate with the word ‘life’. Share your words with your partner / group and talk about them.

3. THE HISTORY:
(a)
In pairs/groups, talk about who was right and who was wrong in the history of Terri Schiavo’s case:

  • Feb. 1990: Terri Schiavo collapses at home.
  • Nov. 1992: Michael Schiavo is awarded $1,000,000 compensation by a court for a hospital misdiagnosing his wife’s condition.
  • May 1998: Mr. Schiavo asks for his wife’s feeding tube to be removed.
  • May 1998-Feb 2000: Mrs Schiavo’s family fights Mr. Schiavo’s request in the courts.
  • Nov. 2002: A Florida judge decides Mrs Schiavo has no hope of recovery and orders the feeding tube to be removed.
  • Oct. 2003: Florida's governor Jeb Bush makes a special law ordering doctors to put the tube back.
  • Sep. 2004:Florida's Supreme Court reverses Jeb Bush’s law.
  • Mar. 2005: Mr. Schiavo turns down $1,000,000 from a Californian businessman to keep his wife alive.
  • 21 Mar. 2005: President George W. Bush breaks his vacation in Texas and flies to Washington DC to sign an emergency law that takes away decision making in this case from Florida state.
  • 22 Mar. 2005: A federal judge rules the feeding tube cannot be put back because Mrs Schiavo’s parents could never win their case in a federal court.
  • 22 Mar. 2005: Mrs Schiavo’s parents and brothers say the judgment is “barbaric” and that Terri has the right to live.
  • 23 Mar. 2005: Without her feeding tube, Mrs Schiavo will probably die within two weeks.

(b) Write down questions you want to ask about the actions of the people mentioned in the history above. Ask your questions to your partner / group.

4. ETHICS: Make a short list of the ethics involved in keeping Mrs Schiavo alive or allowing her to die. Compare with your partner / group members. Talk about whether you agree or disagree with the ethics.

PRE-READING IDEAS

1. WORD SEARCH: Students look in their dictionaries / computer to find collocates, other meanings, information, synonyms … of the words ‘right’ and ‘die’.

2. TRUE / FALSE: Look at the headline and guess whether these sentences are true or false:

  1. Events in the Terri Schiavo case made a U-turn again yesterday.  T / F
  2. A judge decided a law passed by President George W. Bush was wrong.  T / F
  3. A feeding tube keeping Terri Schiavo alive was reinserted.  T / F
  4. Mrs Schiavo’s parents can easily win a court case to keep Terri alive.  T / F
  5. Terri Schiavo also needs a breathing machine.  T / F
  6. Terri’s husband wants his wife to die naturally and with dignity.  T / F
  7. Mr. Schiavo is sure his wife would not want to be kept alive in this way.  T / F
  8. Many Americans don’t mind if President Bush’s move was political.  T / F

3. SYNONYM MATCH: Match the following synonyms from the article:

(a)

case

meddling

(b)

180-degree turn

starving

(c)

intervention

sure

(d)

liberty

about face

(e)

substantial

live

(f)

cutting

lawsuit

(g)

survive

freedom

(h)

dignity

significant

(i)

convinced

continual

(j)

constant

respect

4. PHRASE MATCH: Match the following phrases from the article (sometimes more than one combination is possible):

(a)

the right-

request

(b)

took another 180-degree

making for the case away

(c)

emergency

beating

(d)

that took decision

is a political one

(e)

substantial

turn

(f)

her heart stopped

naturally

(g)

to die

of recovery

(h)

she has no hope

to-die case

(i)

Her parents are desperate

likelihood of success

(j)

President Bush’s move

to keep Terri alive

 

WHILE READING ACTIVITIES

1. GAP-FILL:  Put the words on the right into the gaps.

US judge says no feeding tube

__________ in the right-to-die case of Terri Schiavo took another 180-degree turn earlier today. Despite the intervention of US president George W. Bush earlier in the week, a US federal judge in Florida __________ an emergency request to put back the feeding tube that would keep brain-damaged Mrs Schiavo alive. President Bush had made a special law on Monday that took __________ making for the case away from Florida State and into the federal government’s hands. The federal judge __________ that the “life and liberty interests” of Mrs Schiavo had been protected by Florida courts, and that it was unlawful for a federal court to judge. He also said her parents had not __________ a “substantial likelihood of success” of winning a court case to keep their daughter alive.

 

 

ruled
established
refused
events
decision

Mrs Schiavo collapsed in 1990 when her heart stopped __________, cutting the oxygen supply to her brain. She can breathe __________, but needs the feeding tube to keep her alive. She could survive one to two weeks without the tube. Her husband wants his wife to die naturally and with __________ as she has no hope of recovery. He first asked doctors to remove the feeding tube in 1998. He is convinced his wife would not want to be kept alive in this way; being in a constant __________ state. Her parents are desperate to keep Terri alive, saying she has a right to live and that she responds to them. Many Americans are __________ that President Bush’s move is a political one.

  

vegetative
beating
dignity
angered
unaided

2. TRUE/FALSE:  Students check their answers to the T/F exercise.

3. SYNONYMS:  Students check their answers to the synonyms exercise.

4. PHRASE MATCH:  Students check their answers to the phrase match exercise.

5. QUESTIONS: Students make notes for questions they would like to ask the class about the article.

6. VOCABULARY:  Students circle any words they do not understand. In groups, pool unknown words and use dictionaries to find the meanings.

POST READING IDEAS

1. GAP-FILL: Check the answers to the gap-fill exercise.

2. QUESTIONS:  Students ask the discussion questions they thought of above to their partner / group / class. Pool the questions for all students to share.

3. VOCABULARY: As a class, go over the vocabulary students circled above.

4. STUDENT-GENERATED SURVEY: Pairs/Groups write down 3 questions based on the article. Conduct their surveys alone. Report back to partners to compare answers. Report to other groups / the whole class.

5. ‘RIGHT’ / ‘DIE’: Students make questions based on their findings from pre-reading activity #1.

6. DISCUSSION:

  1. What was interesting in this article?
  2. Were you surprised by anything in this article?
  3. Were you saddened by anything in this article?
  4. Were you angered by anything in this article?
  5. Do you have strong feelings over this case?
  6. Should Mrs Schiavo be allowed to die naturally?
  7. What would you do if you were one of her parents?
  8. What would you do if it were your husband / wife in the vegetative state?
  9. Should George W. Bush have got involved?
  10. Should people be kept alive by machines?
  11. Whose wishes are most important – Terri’s husband’s, parents’, George W. Bush’s?
  12. What is the law in your country in cases similar to this?
  13. What law would you make to decide this case?
  14. Should Mr. Schiavo wait for better technology to come along and keep his wife alive?
  15. Is this case similar to euthanasia?
  16. Did you like this discussion?
  17. Teacher / Student additional questions.

7. OPINIONS: Talk about these with your partner. Decide on a percentage score how true they are (E.g. The first one is 100% true / wrong)

  1. Mrs Schiavo has a right to die.
  2. Mr. Schiavo is Terri’s legal guardian and only he can decide.
  3. President Bush broke his holiday and flew to Texas because he cares about Terri.
  4. President Bush says he cares about Terri’s right to live, but says nothing of the rights to live of 10 people shot to death in a Minnesota school.
  5. It isn’t right for someone to be kept alive by machines. They should be left to die naturally.
  6. The parents should make the final decision as they brought Terri into this world.
  7. This case is for State law; Washington should stay out of it.
  8. Terri should be kept alive. She may recover if medical technology improves.
  9. Terri herself would probably want to die, and not just exist in a vegetative state.
  10. President Bush getting involved is dangerous. It means he must do the same in the thousands of other cases similar to this one.

HOMEWORK

1. VOCABULARY EXTENSION: Choose several of the words from the text. Use a dictionary or Google’s search field (or another search engine) to build up more associations / collocations of each word.

2. INTERNET: Search the Internet and find information on PVS (persistent vegetative state). Share your findings with your class next lesson.

3. ETHICS: Make a short list of the ethics involved in keeping Mrs Schiavo alive or allowing her to die. Discuss these in your next class.

4. LETTER: Imagine you are either one of Mrs Schiavo’s parents or her husband. Write a letter to President George W. Bush expressing your concerns in this case.

ANSWERS

TRUE / FALSE:

  1. Events in the Terri Schiavo case made a U-turn again yesterday.  T
  2. A judge decided a law passed by President George W. Bush was wrong.  T
  3. A feeding tube keeping Terri Schiavo alive was reinserted.  F
  4. Mrs Schiavo’s parents can easily win a court case to keep Terri alive.  F
  5. Terri Schiavo also needs a breathing machine.  F
  6. Terri’s husband wants his wife to die naturally and with dignity.  T
  7. Mr. Schiavo is sure his wife would not want to be kept alive in this way.  T
  8. Many Americans don’t mind if President Bush’s move was political.  F

SYNONYM MATCH:

(a)

case

lawsuit

(b)

180-degree turn

about face

(c)

intervention

meddling

(d)

liberty

freedom

(e)

substantial

significant

(f)

cutting

starving

(g)

survive

live

(h)

dignity

respect

(i)

convinced

sure

(j)

constant

continual

PHRASE MATCH:

(a)

the right-

to-die case

(b)

took another 180-degree

turn

(c)

emergency

request

(d)

that took decision

making for the case away

(e)

substantial

likelihood of success

(f)

her heart stopped

beating

(g)

to die

naturally

(h)

she has no hope

of recovery

(i)

Her parents are desperate

to keep Terri alive

(j)

President Bush’s move

is a political one

GAP FILL:

US judge says no feeding tube

Events in the right-to-die case of Terri Schiavo took another 180-degree turn earlier today. Despite the intervention of US president George W. Bush earlier in the week, a US federal judge in Florida refused an emergency request to put back the feeding tube that would keep brain-damaged Mrs Schiavo alive. President Bush had made a special law on Monday that took decision making for the case away from Florida State and into the federal government’s hands. The federal judge ruled that the “life and liberty interests” of Mrs Schiavo had been protected by Florida courts, and that it was unlawful for a federal court to judge. He also said her parents had not established a “substantial likelihood of success” of winning a court case to keep their daughter alive.

Mrs Schiavo collapsed in 1990 when her heart stopped beating, cutting the oxygen supply to her brain. She can breathe unaided, but needs the feeding tube to keep her alive. She could survive one to two weeks without the tube. Her husband wants his wife to die naturally and with dignity as she has no hope of recovery. He first asked doctors to remove the feeding tube in 1998. He is convinced his wife would not want to be kept alive in this way; being in a constant vegetative state. Her parents are desperate to keep Terri alive, saying she has a right to live and that she responds to them. Many Americans are angered that President Bush’s move is a political one.

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