A Real, Sad Story
A cover-page report by Los Angeles Times has reported the deaths of a father and his 20-year-old son in New York City, the latest victims of Hurricane Sandy. Sadly, the deaths could have been prevented, as revealed in the report:
Father, a former Marine, and his son John Jr. "had defied orders to evacuate [...], determined to pump water out of their basement. But the massive tidal surge and raging floodwaters crushed the foundation, and a wall of concret collapsed on them."
"Police discovered the pair the next day, their arms wrapped around each other. They lay amid the wreckage of this working-class neighborhood [...]."
What has happened to the father and son is deeply heart-breaking and tragic. May they rest in peace! And may their deaths teach us who live important life lessons!
Source Info:
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TOPICS:
Father, a former Marine, and his son John Jr. "had defied orders to evacuate [...], determined to pump water out of their basement. But the massive tidal surge and raging floodwaters crushed the foundation, and a wall of concret collapsed on them."
"Police discovered the pair the next day, their arms wrapped around each other. They lay amid the wreckage of this working-class neighborhood [...]."
What has happened to the father and son is deeply heart-breaking and tragic. May they rest in peace! And may their deaths teach us who live important life lessons!
Source Info:
- Author: Shashank Bengali
- Article Title: "Staten Island is awash in a sea of grief"
- Newspaper Title: Los Angeles Times
- Pages: A1, A10
- Publication Date: Friday, Nov. 2, 2012
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TOPICS:
- Based on what they did before they died, describe their father-son relationship and their daily living, using your imagination.
- What do you wish they had done that could have saved their lives?
- If you face a similar natural disaster situation in the future, as a parent, what would you urge your family to do? And as a child, what would you urge your parents to do? Be specific.
- While grieving for the father and son, discuss 2-3 realizations or life-lessons that can be gained from this tragic event.
- Starting from preschool till graduate school for the highest degree [PhD, MD, etc.], students have been urged to 'follow directions and obey orders.' Why is it so important to follow directions and obey orders in schools and in daily living? Give 2-3 logical, concrete reasons?
- As adults, should we follow directions and obey orders all the time and without thinking? When should the 'orders' be questioned and disobeyed? And when they should not? Explain with specific examples.
- When we follow directions and obey orders, do we lose our independent thinking? As an intelligent and logical person, how to best handle 'directions' and 'orders' from superiors [in the family. in college, at work]?
- Imagining yourself as a CEO in your dream company, write a speech to the new hires in the company to urge them to follow the directions and obey orders for safety, harmony and productivity. Make your speech reasonable, logical and convincing.
- Write an essay on "The Importance of Following Directions." In the essay, use this sad story as an example and quote the newspaper report 2 times and give MLA in-text citations each time. Prepare a standard MLA bibliography entry for this source at the end under 'Work Cited.'
- Do research to collect 3-5 similar real-life tragedies that occurred as a result of not following directions and obeying orders. In a research paper, present the 'tragedies' and professional analysis and comments, through quoting, paraphrasing, and summarizing methods, and with MLA in-text citations. At the end of the research paper, under 'Works Cited,' list the bibliography entries for all the sources used in the paper. [Follow the MLA format.]