Name: Pd: HW Packet # 7 - Due Friday, 10/30/15 We are going to read 3 articles related to the recent mass shooting at Umpqua College in Oregon and the controversy that has been growing in America - the increasing occurrences of gun violence, You'll read articles with different opinions; our goal is to heir a ideas ate what Americ should do Directions: 1. # each paragraph 2. Circle and define unknown words 3. Summarize each chunk in the left margin 4, Annotate purposefully: show evidence of deep thinking, 1-2 thoughtful annotations per page in the fight margin (Inferences, Questions, Connections, Opinions, Interpreting tough sentences) 5. Write a 2-paragraph response using the template below Difficult Vocabula a * BWA i ~ Distorrect -cnsteadina Meebo | Recocived « eon awowt, SEN, T FOUR IIE ING Teer. cashemens /rewore |Mecroccaty Voss" of Alor, “Men and Mass murder: what gender tells us about gun violence in America” - Damon Linker, 10/6/15, The Week ‘Another week (orday) in America, another mass shooting. Another mass shooting, another flood of liberal attacks on gun culture, the Second Amendment, and the NRA. ‘And another round of conservative pushback asserting some version of "guns don't kill people; people kill people." And another Barack Obama press conference railing at our failure to "do something" to stop the violence. And another Nicholas Kristof column about how we need to regulate guns like cars, And another flurry of calls to do a better {job of responding to mental health problems. ‘And on and on and on, The specific victims and perpetrators change, of course, but the actions and reactions recur endlessly, as if all Americans were condemned to relive a single horrific trauma over and over again, with each faction in our national debate about gun violence playing their parts, never deviating from their seripts, Not long ago, I made my own contribution to the conversation, expressing despair that anything can significantly change this horrifying facet of our national life and culture. ‘There are already hundreds of millions of guns in circulation, and a program of mass confiscation would never be enacted. A not-insubstantia! portion of the population ends up driven to use these deadly weapons to murder their fellow citizens, and i's not atall clear how anything can be done to keep someone from acting out in a homicidal-suicidal orgy of violence if he is hell-bent on doing so.But realism (or fatalism) doesnt preclude trying to understand why it keeps happening ‘And as far as I'm concémed, the most disturbing (and also least discussed) aspect of America’s epidemic of mass shootings is the fact that they are almost invariably committed by men. ‘Murder is an overwhelmingly male act, with the offender proving to be a man 90 percent of the time the person's gender is known, When it comes to mass shootings, the gender disparity is even greater, with something like 98 percent of them perpetrated by men, We don't lack for explanations, To cite just a few: There's good, old-fashioned male aggression; the emotional immaturity of boys in comparison to girls; cultural norms that lead men to consider it unacceptable to ask for help, especially about mental and emotional problems; and the pervasiveness of graphically violent forms of entertainment, including video games that place the player in the position of the "shooter." All of these and other factors probably contribute in various ways to many shootings, with the decisive ones varying from case to case. But there is an additional factor that doesn't get discussed as much as it should: the role of a distorted (but also extremely common) form of moral thinking in the psychology of ‘men who commit mass murder. 1'm talking about the tendency of mass shooters to fixate on perceived injustices ranging from racial and sexual slights to various interpersonal and career-related. failures. Shooters are murderously angry — and they're angry because they fee! like the world has failed to give them the rewards they deserve. ‘The notion of desert stands close to the core of moral experience and belief. Most of us, feel that those who are good deserve to triumph (or be rewarded) and those who are bad deserve to ful (or be punished), The American Dream of upward economic mobility, along with the postwar culture of meritocracy, presumes that our country is organized to make it happen: those who work hard will rise and those who do not will fall. ‘There's been a lot of recent talk about the breakdown of the American Dream, with leading public figures claiming that upward mobility has slowed considerably. Studies, meanwhile, appear to show that things may not be getting significantly worse, after all — although they also show that mobility in the U.S. lags behind what many other countries enjoy. But the focus on change over time and international comparisons obscures the fact that toa considerable extent the American Dream has always been more of a myth than reality, Some people start off the race of life with enormous (natural and conventional) advantages over others. And for the biggest leaps up the economic ladder, nck always plays an indeterminate but substantial role.Which means that deserving has very litle, if anything, to do with the outcome. Itwould be one thing if discovering this fact were an occasion for temporary disappointment or sadness. But that's not how many of us respond to evidence of the world's imperfect justice. We respond with anger. And when the injustices pile up, the anger can curdle into righteous indignation — into the convietion that the world itself is broken, that it's not merely failing to function as we've been taught it should, but that it’s actually operating backwards, by systematically punishing those (like oneself) who deserve to succeed and rewarding those who deserve to fail. Men and women both experience righteous indignation, of course, But there may be something specific about masculinity — perhaps its deep ties to irrational pride — that leads some men to experience a perceived injustice (and especially a string of them) as ‘an excruciating personal humiliation that cries out not just for redress but for revenge. In this way, wounded pride provokes some men to lash out in a violent fury at their fellow human beings as a way of striking back at the intolerable injustice of the world. By all means, let's continue to push for intelligent restrictions on guns. And for better ‘ways to protect ourselves from them. And for better health services for the mentally ill. But along with these well-intentioned efforts, it couldn't hurt to try and do a better job of teaching our kids — and especially our boys — that the world owes and guarantees them absolutely nothing. Setbacks and failures will always be painful. But they needa't bbe viewed as a sign that an existential promise has been betrayed — or treated as moral justification for a testosterone-fueled homicidal temper tantrum. Comprehension Questions: Complete on the same paper as your Reflection 1. What percentage of murders are committed by men? 2. When discussing the “myth” of the American Dream, the author says, “ that deserving [success] has very little, if anything, to do with the outcome” - which other Article of the Week does this relate to? Explain. 3. What does this author suggest we should do to deal with the problem of male violence? Reflection: What is the author’s main argument? Do you agree or disagree? Explain with textual evidence. Using the template below, write your response on a lined piece of paper or type/ print it. Staple it to your packet. ‘The general argument made by author X (first and last name) in his /her article, >, is that . To prove/support this claim, X (last name only) argues that_____. He She weites .” In this passage, X (ast name) is suggesting that _ In conclusion, X(last name)'s belief is that _ In my view, X (last name) is wrong / right, because More specifically, I believe that For example, . Another reason I believe this to be true is Although X might object that , Tmaintain that . Therefore, I concludeBlack Ships Before Troy Vocabulary Practice: 1. Apathy isa , infecting young people and keeping them from achieving better lives. 2. If you disagree with your best friend or , Thope you can eventually discuss the problem and make 0 the problem doesn’t ruin your friendship. If you walk into that cave, you will be in serious ! The last time someone ‘went in, they were never seen again!! 4, Batman wants to his parents, but he also tries to get justice for the victims of other crimes too. ab Word | Part of speech | Change into a new part of speech by changing / adding a suffix Avenge Peril Amend Quarrel Pestilence Suffix Practice: ‘What part of speech does adding the suftix -ate change words into? Below list as many words ending in -ate as you can think of. (Over 10 = extra credit point)VAL / VAIL : ee ROCK BOLD vor PA ‘Mareia’ ability to speak French proved. invaluable The sociologist studied the attitudes about money | when we lost our passports in Lyous. prevalent among young people today. ‘The archeologist’ theary about the Roman origins of the site was invalidated by the discovery of artifacts from an earlier period. ‘The prisoner's pleas for mercy were unavailing, a8 © the tyrannical emperor had no intention of easing Agaiust all odds. Jaccb prevailed in his chess match =< his punishment. against a moze experienced opponent. Fighting high water and hurricane-fovee winds, the ‘The President’ endorsement of the eansidate Coast Guar! made a valiant effort to rescue the successfully countervailed the haranful elfec of strancled dinghy. negative advectising. Amb- means both. When you have strong feelings Valiant (and, tess Pre- sometimes + you feel’ :| camnmony, velorous) describes |” means beyond. you prevalt aBTaTERGE AT ERABTVATont person "the strength of character that =’ — ina contest, you have sirength Don't confuse this word | §, enables someone to face beyond your opponent’s—you with ambiguous. People feel 2 danger with courage. triumph. Prevailing forces are ambivalent. Situations are ambiguous. Valor means, £ fe Prevail also means ¢ You know that valid A means. wee ‘ “Silence Toinvalidateatheoyetome pS VAL/VAIL 5 prevailed Troughout the city away its. cs value, strength AE, Prevalent means widely occuring or influential: “Some diseases are more prevalent among men than women.” it. Why isa sick person called an invalid? Invaluable literally means. ‘To avail yourself of : not able to be valued. tS Ce? something is te | deseribes something whose value Counter- means moni «fo make Use i is 90 great that tcannotbe | To countervailis tact agai GFit Something that is measured. Invaluableisa ja force with equal strength, to unavailing is useless and stronget form of valuable.** Wale. 2 Semrences ‘After fresh evidence made the plainti’s claim completely ‘the case was dismissed. a) ambivalent, b) invalid, 2) invalnable Which of the following is an example of valor? a) a very expensive diamond bracelet b) a volunteer who organizes a successful fundraiser ) a veteran decorated with the Purple Heart Which word is a synonym for countervailing? s) winning b) offsetting hopeless Which use of ambivalence is wrong? a) The ambivalence of the case made it hard for thé jury to get a clear picture of the events, 1b). The panel's ambivalence about the entries was clear when it refused to avard a prize. ‘¢) Faced with two contradictory but equally convincing choices, Jeff remained ambivalent. ‘Which person is considered invaluable? a). “Rick, we appreciate your efforts, but T think itis a lost ca b) “Milroy. your comments have absolutely no grounding in veality” 6) “Anne, T don't know how we would have finished without your help.” Which word is an antonym for prevalent? a) losing, B) rare ¢) useful Whose efforts are unavailing? a) Exica campaigns tirelessly for election reform, but the referendum is defeated. }) Claude is finally successful in his bid for a position on the city council. ©) Suzanne risks her life to reseue her neighbor from a burning house, Which sentence does prevailed fit in? 2). The enemy’ thrust was by the arrival of an entire platoon, b) Clara herself of her host’ absence to leave the dull party unnoticed, The situation didn' look good for our heroes, but in the end, justice —__ a. Nae /NO\\- wood.Fillin the blanks in the sentes rangements of the same letters) of one another. mnmmmm © The 4-star asked his assistant to ___ the photograph so he could get a closer view of the intended target. oe x Pas eae Word Jigsaw LANGUAGE. PLANING cach piece used exactly once. 3 a —E p| [N a — Ta po] [a s| ; 2 | im < 4 D wo —) H Cc G : Ww Answers on page 174,