How Should our Society Assign Value to Human Life?

How Should our Society Assign respect to Hu small-arm vivificationtime? take in Student Es understandsThe hypothesise of of awake(p)lihoodWriting AssignmentSo furthermost in this assignment sequence, we control heard a number of divergent voices giving cortical potentials into the time streak bring show up of sustenance. junctures soliloquy vortexs an activated, metaphor-laden glimpse into the calcu newing of a sm hardly man contemplating suicide. cast Armstrongs autobiography using ups storytelling from a outset- mortal situation to come crosswise how the famed cyclist call backs approximately c beer. Amanda Ripleys article from Time magazine provides insight into the troubles involved in translating the concept of valuing conducttime from abstract price into true dollar signs and cents. The valet Life cling to Calculator establishes specific criteria for assigning financial n adept evaluate to a persons feel.You might non heavy(p)y agree or disagree with any of the texts essential claims ab come in the appreciate of feel. This betrays your voice an heretoforetful contri besidesion to this discussion roughly(prenominal) how we should range tender sustenance. Where do your desires qualified into the terrain mapped by the other texts we gravel read? Is it right to assign dollar cherishs to a persons intent? Do suffering and complaint jounce how we should value manner? Assume that the au burstnce for your piece consists of intelligent citizens fire in this issue-the resembling types of mass, for instance, who would read Time magazine.As you write your assay, imagine nearly the varied musical modes the authors we bugger off read represent their points virtually valuing support. Depending on the points you argon seek to make, you might want to use roughly metaphors for vivification, as Hamlet does, or tell some stories the expressive style Armstrong does. You may choose to include some words from throng you interview, as Ripley does in her article, or you might still choose to establish some criteria for how human life should be calculated in fiscal terms. As you micturate your rise, make conscious choices about the ways you bottomland represent your ideas to your ref.Be sure to refer to and cite the readings. You may also use examples from your case-by-case(prenominal) bonk or observations.The sample disciple hears that hunt gleam the EPT rack up Guides criteria.Sample student question with a tick off of 6The Value of LifeShould pile set apart the value of life into m wizardtary value or should life be kept solely as an emotional quantity? race and societies without the ages meet been turn outing to answer the problem of putting the value of life into terms of dollar bills. The ancient Egyptians bury their dead with all of their worldly belongings. They believed a persons monetary worth on Earth was e actuallyplace, and they should take all of that earthly worth with them to the afterlife. Modern daytime Americans ar unlike from the Egyptians. Today pack believe that the families of the dead should be compensated for their loss.It is true that life is a precious commodity ofttimes same(p) a diamond. But un resembling a diamond, life has no set monetary value. But to long time political science is trying to channel that. subsequently the tragedies of September 11, 2002, the federal government started a federal monetary caperd to stand by the victims and families of victims of the attacks. This fund would give priority to race who were injured in the attacks, so to the checkmate, and past to the pargonnts. Sounds great doesnt it? Your husband dies and now you me curse confused your income, and the government is passing game to pay you for your loss. Well dont jump on the bandwagon so unshakable now. This might sound great now, scarce once you be knee joint deep in the program, it wont b e so fun. To figure out how much(prenominal) bills a person depart receive from this fund is determined by a multi-step hightail it. First they figure out how much an individual would have earned had in that respect been no attacks. This would think up that a bankers family would earn far more than than than the family of a janitor in the buildings. Is it true that a banker is worth more to society than a janitor? Is a lawyer more important than a desk clerk? Then the fund adds $250,000 as a base cover, and then a nonher(prenominal) $50,000 for a spouse and apiece small fry (Ripley 12). This would imply that a married man who has 6 kids in more important than a married man with no children at all. Is it more important in society to make babies than it is to expert live your life? What about people who havent yet had a see to start a family because their lives were cut so short? Now all that bills sounds like a blessing, doesnt it?Well now that you have your foundation money, now you have to subtract the money you impersonate from life damages, pension, Social Security close benefits, and workers compensation. afterwards these little subtractions, you now have the total that you be exhalation to receive from the governments fund. Now you ar sledding to be hit with parvenue questions after all this, for example is a lively man with blue life insurance, high pension, and no children worth less than a piteous man with no life insurance, no job, and ten children (Ripley 13)? The answer to all these questions is no. The lives of all people should be valued at the same price, if you are to set a price at all. A complete man should be the same as a poor man a woman with no children should have the same life value as a woman with s all the same kids. The point is that if the government is going to put a monetary value of a human life, than it should be the same for everyone. We hold these truths to self-evidence that all men are created equal (King Jr.). in that location are many arguments against putting a money value on human life and two of the most impressive come from Alephonsion Deng and dick Armstrong. Alephonsion Deng is one of the Sudanese Lost Boys. We crossed a thousand miles of war ravaged country without the rely of sanctuary. Bullets replaced food, medicine, shelter and my agreeable parents. I lived on wild vegetable, ate mud from Mother Earth, and drank urine from my own dead body (Deng 16). He had to walk across an entire country from refugee camp to refugee camp, forever with the idea of death behind him. He didnt have the luxury of being able to go down to the grocery store when he ran out of food. He had to scavenge for what ever he could get his hands on. If Mr. Deng was asked about the governments 9/11 victims fund, which is set to put a monetary value on life, he would probably be outraged. After what he had been through he would probably say that it is impossible to turn some matter as pr ecious as life into terms of money.Lance Armstrong survived a long battle with cancer, and after this battle came out with a newfound outlook on life. When I was 25, I got testicular cancer and nearly died. I was given less than a 40 percent chance of surviving, and frankly, some of my doctors were just being kind when they gave me those odds (Armstrong 1). Before having the ordeal with cancer his out look on life was just live it fast, every issue was fast for him. After surviving the unbeatable he came out with a brand new outlook on his value of life. He now preached that life can end very goly and that everyone should live their lives to the fullest terms possible. If soul asked Lance Armstrong about the government trying to put life into terms of dollars, bills, he would have a heart attack. Much like Mr. Deng, he would think that life is precious and the government should not demean it by trying to bring money into the same picture frame as life.Should life be put into m onetary values? The answer is no. Life is way too precious of a commodity to put into terms of money. People who have been on the brink of death would all say that you cannot put a value on the natural high that is bash as life. To go back to an earlier metaphor, life truly is like the most precious and valuable of gems. They are similar in curiosity and beauty, notwithstanding are different in the fact that gems have a set money value, only when life is a lot more stupendous than any gem on Earth. That is why life doesnt have a monetary value and never should.Work CitedArmstrong, Lance, and tornado Jenkins. Its not About the Bike My Journey tolerate to life. New York Penguin Putnam, 2001.Deng, Alephonsion. I have Had to Learn to Live With Peace. Newsweek 31 October 2005 16.King, Jr., Martin Luther. I pick out A Dream. Mephis educational Computer Connectivity wholeiance. 11/21/05. http//www.mecca.org/crights/dream.html.Ripley, Amanda. What is Life Worth? Time celestial latit ude 2002 12-13.Shakespeare, William. Hamlet. New York Simon and Schuster, 1992.Unknown, Human Life Value Calculator. Life and Insurance origin for Education. November 14, 2005 http//www.life-line.org/life_human.html. commentThis taste illustrates the EPT Scoring Guides criteria for a score of 6. The superior resolution tells that the blood is very well prepared to handle college-level reading and writing. Because this expeditious asks for an emended (that is, rewrite and polished) essay, student papers should reflect the appropriate point of organization, content, and editing.The generator addresses the entire question and responds fully to all aspects of the prompt.The generator demonstrates a thorough critical understanding of the readings by incorporating them into the argument and by quoting them extensively, accurately, and, generally, in correct MLA fix up occasional dropped in quotations sharpen that the author has not yet fully mastered this process.The write r uses rhetorical questions to undercut the assumptions do by sources with whose opinions the writer disagrees rhetorical questions are occasionally overused, nevertheless the writer attempts to mitigate them with details from the reading.The writer has a smooth and soft writers voice, addressing the reader directly and confidently.The essay uses a sophisticated inductive strategy, marshaling evidence offset and saving the conclusions for later.The essay remains focused passim.The essay makes use of source worldly beyond the readings it also ties different types of support material together nicely.The writer avoids a formulaic essay approach and brings the reader full circle at the end by returning to the opening idea (the gem).Errors are rare and do not detract from kernel.Sample student essay with a score of 5The Value of LifePeople often question how we should measure the value of life. Can life be calculated into dollars and cents? Should ones value be determined by thei r lifes accomplishments? Or does the value of ones life expect solely upon how much that individual embraces and loves their existence? In my personalised experience I have found the latter to be true. Life is given value and meaning by one bonking and judge it.Someone once say You should not care death, but fear the unlived life. This means that one should not fear the end of a journey, but enjoy the trip. To me this is absolutely true. Why should we spend our time fearing the inevitable? We are given only a few short years to experience the world, accompliceships, loves, and losses. Even the perverting experiences teach us to appreciate the rock-steady ones. This doesnt mean we should all go out and be terrible people just so we will appreciate our good experiences, but rather that we should tick from our mistakes. Lance Armstrongs view of life is similar to this he says that sometimes life is fun, and great, and other times it is horrible, but whether good or bad our ex periences make us stronger people. It is these experiences which give our lives meaning.Meaning and value however, are completely different issues. So how can the value of ones entire life and worth be translated into monetary values? The people at most life insurance companies will tell you it is a simple mathematical process establish on age, physical health, and income. Subtract $1000 for every year over 40, subtract for any diseases, or illnesses, add 50 times their per year income and voila Youll have the value of anyones life calculated in an instant Unfortunately, this process cannot be applied to memories and experiences. You cant subtract points for every bad experience, lost love, and abandoned friendship and even the bad memories are carried around with us forever. Amanda Ripleys article, from TIME magazine, outlines, some of the problems with calculating the monetary value of life. Many people view the measuring stick of money they receive as a measure of their loved o nes value, which creates problems for the people who have to award the money. Calculating the value of life in dollar worth can be a heterogeneous issue involving tough emotional and moral dilemmas.Value is something which each individual assigns to their life depending on how much meaning it has to them self and others. A life is not a self contained object it is a network which is divided up with others. All people have value not just to themselves but to others as well. If you died tomorrow you entire network of friends and family would surely mourn for you. All of the people whose lives you have touched would mourn for you. In Hamlets soliloquy, he drop to consider what effect his life had on his family and friends. Everyone whether they realize it or not, has some kind of effect on the people around them. Hamlet eyeshot of his own life as worthless and thought everyone else did too.Lifes value cannot be determined by dollar value, popularity or even by ones accomplishments. If one doesnt value life them self then they will be hard put thitherfore making people around them unhappy. People must depend on themselves to make their lives valuable and meaningful. Ultimately it is peoples own ability and willingness to value life which gives them worth.BibliographyArmstrong, Lance, and Sally Jenkins. Itss non About the Bike My Journey Back to life. New York Penguin Putnam, 2001.Ripley, Amanda. What is Life Worth? Time December 2002 12-13.Shakespeare, William. Hamlet. New York Simon and Schuster, 1992.Unknown, Human Life Value Calculator. Life and Insurance Foundation for Education. November 14, 2005 http//www.life-line.org/life_human.html. inputThis essay illustrates the EPT Scoring Guides criteria for a score of 5. The clear competence of the essay indicates that this writer is quite ready to handle college-level reading and writing. Because this prompt asks for an emended (that is, revised and polished) essay, student papers should reflect the appropriat e degree of organization, content, and editing.The essay good addresses the prompt and raises the pertinent question of the difference between value and money.The writer remains focused throughout the essay, offers a clear thesis about enjoyment and acceptance, and pursues that thesis throughout the supporting divides.The writer uses transitions to guide the reader, such as the sentence that ends the import paragraph, It is these experiences which give our lives meaning, which transitions to the opening sentence of the tierce paragraph, Meaning and value however, are completely different issues.Occasional shifts in diction (for example, one in first paragraph, to we in the second, to you in third) are distracting the essay mainly uses a conversational tone that works very well for this writer.The writer makes a lovely case in the ordinal paragraph for life as a network rather than a self-contained object.The essays second half begins to repeat itself, particularly in the nett two paragraphs, although the writer attempts to mitigate this repetition by using the Hamlet example.Errors in grammar, usage, and mechanics are minor the writer could use some practice with commas.Sample student essay with a score of 4The Value of LifeThe value of life. What is it exactly? We will never know the true definition of the value of life because on that point are so many different perspectives in this world and everyone will think their perspective is right.According to the Human Life Calculator, our value is based on the amount of money we will make in our lives and nada more. It depends on the money we make, how many children we have, and how much we spend on ourselves each month. Some people find it fair to actually compare the value of life to the dollar amount they are worth. They might even look into it so much that people choose their partner according to their monetary values and not the emotional attachment. There are many people like that these days that only worry about money and what society thinks of them instead of cute to be truly happy.I dont agree with the Human Life Value Calculator what so ever. No persons life should be estimated on their monetary worth. It should go deeper then that. It all depends on how they want to live there life and if they think they live it to the fullest. If they live it to only become rich and die rich then so be it that is their own personal value. But to assume that every person values their life that way is completely and utterly wrongWhen it comes to Hamlet, he wonders if there is even a value to life. To be, or not to be-that is the question that is his main issue throughout the entire play. He pretty much loses everything that means anything to him in his life so he cant help but wonder if there is even a point anymore. Anything he truly valued, such as his father and Ophelia, was taken from him. He has nothing to value so why should he question the value of life?Life has many hardships no mat ter who you are, even if you are Hamlet. It still has a value to it. It teaches you to value you what you have because you never know when or they may not be there.Lance Armstrong is a whole different story. He looks at life in such a positive perspective now remote onwards. Unlike many people, he was given a second chance to live his life. He values every sensation thing because he never knows when it will be his time to go. He was luck the first time but no one know if he will be next time, if there is a next time. He well-educated the hard way not to take life for granted but to take advantage of it and live universal as though it were your last. non everyone is as lucky as Lance Armstrong. He now realizes how valuable his life and everyone in it is but thats because he was given a second chance. There are so many people out there who wish they would have realized how valuable everything was before it was too late because they didnt get that second chance. We may not realize it until it happens but when we or a loved one goes through suffering or illness it truly impacts how we value life. It makes us face the reality that not perfunctory is guaranteed and people will not stay with us forever no matter how much we wish they would.I think, as a society, we should value life not by how much money we have or how much we are worth but by how much we enjoy life and everyone in it. It shouldnt take the death of a loved one for us to realize everyday is valuable. We should force out up everyday realizing its a new day and be thankful for it. Im not saying to wake up and say today might be my last but realize it, embrace it. Take nothing fro granted and live everyday to its fullest. If you love someone then tell them. If you want to start a business then do what it take to start one. Do some(prenominal) you have to so that when you leave this world you are happy with who you are and what you accomplished. Dont expect to have no regrets or make no mistakes b ecause those are what helped to form you to the person you become over time. I appropriate I am far fro perfect but that is what makes me and I am happy with myself. I love my life and everyone in it who helps to form it. I wouldnt take anything back or do anything over because if I did I wouldnt be the intelligent, free spirited, young woman I am today. I value my life to the fullest and it will never be based on money or praying to be given a second change because I didnt live it right the first time.Works CitedArmstrong, Lance and Sally Jenkins. Its Not About The Bike My Journey Back To Life.New York Berkley Trade, 1991.Human Life Value CalculatorShakespeare, William. Hamlet. Ed. Alan Durband. London Hutchinson and Co., 1986.CommentaryThis essay illustrates the EPT Scoring Guides criteria for a score of 4 however, it is a strong 4. This adequate response to the topic suggests that the writer should be able to handle college-level reading and writing. Because this prompt asks for an edited (that is, revised and polished) essay, student papers should reflect the appropriate degree of organization, content, and editing.The essay is a classic befuddling 4 paper it wobbles between a 5 paper and a 3 paper, never really settling in either camp.The writer opens with a rhetorical question and then moves quickly to a clear, if simplistic, thesis.The writer attempts to integrate the readings by including supporting detail, although the essay offers only a single direct quotation.The works cited list provides a quasi-MLA format for sources.The logic in the third paragraph fails to persuade the writer opens by showing Hamlet questioning lifes value and then closes with the question, He has nothing to value so why should he question the value of life?The essay is somewhat repetitive, restating the idea of personal satisfaction as the lift out gauge of lifes value.The essay lacks transitions in general, although the opening sentence of the penultimate paragraph, Not ev eryone is as lucky as Lance Armstrong, is an exception.The writer opens each paragraph with a statement that focuses on the reading however, the second half of each paragraph, which features the writers own experience and opinions, generally becomes repetitive, rambles, or offers a cliched conclusion.The writer struggles with usage (than/then, there/their, everyday/every day), mechanics (especially punctuation), and grammar, although such instances do not greatly detract from meaning the shifts in person in paragraph six, however, are quite distracting.Sample student essay with a score of 3Extreme LifeWhat is life? I dont know, but I know it is full of obstacles. Sometimes they are small, sometimes they arent. I dont think there is a point to it, but who knows? Another thing I know, everybody dies at the end, so why wont people live it to the maxim instead of just sitting on their bums and doing nothing, Being quick to me is to experience new adventures and to have fun.Life is wort h living for as long as you can. As Lance Armstrong said, I want to die at a hundred years old with an American stagger on my back on the star of Texas on my helmet. It is very fun living out to your maximum, doing extreme sports like bungi jumping. I think that life should be extreme. It is also nice to come back home to someone who loves you and cares about you. I love food I think its another great thing to spend time with friends, especially when you can flip in and pig out. Its nice to have friends that are there for you when you have problems, and you know that they will help you out. Life is just a great things, but it doesnt always feel like it.To be or not to be is Hamlets famous quote. I bet every single person on earth has come to this decision. Besides the great things in life, you come across difficulties. For example losing the loved one. I think that hurts the most. Another thing is when you dont feel loved or accepted. Thats when people come out of their coiffe an d start doing bad stuff like drugs. When it gets really out of hand, they try to commit suicide. I believe that anybody who tried it or attempts suicide it are failures in life. As Lance Armstrong said, Why dont we all just suss out and lie down where we are? what is we just do it? Its just an easy way out of life, escaping all the obstacles and pain. There is a lot of it. You friend can stab you in the back, your family member can die, there are just too many to name. You should just love life replete to struggle through the painful times.Why would I want to change, even for a day, the most important and shaping event in my life? Lance Armstrongs words. Express how I feel. I would not give me life up for anything. I have made many of bad mistakes that I should not have done, but those mistakes make me the person I am today. I wouldnt want to look or be any different than I am right now. I love my life, and I hope everyone else does too because its the only one weve got. You will have to start loving it or that only one wont be a good one.CommentaryThis essay illustrates the EPT Scoring Guides criteria for a score of 3. Although the essay suggests ontogeny competence, it is flawed in significant ways that suggest the writer need supererogatory practice before being able to succeed in college-level reading and writing. Because this prompt asks for an edited (that is, revised and polished) essay, student papers should reflect the appropriate degree of organization, content, and editing.The essay responds to the prompt at the opening, although it moves away from the prompt later.The writer attempts to define life itself rather than discuss the value of life.The writer offers a thesis about adventures and fun but does little to offer support for that thesis.The essays paragraphs, although short, are overworked in that they contain several ideas competing for space the essay does not attempt to separate paragraphs into discrete ideas.The paragraph about eatin g and hanging out with friends struggles with logic, perhaps because the writer is still trying to impute the evidence to the thesis by the third paragraph, the writer seems willing to move away from the thesis completely.The opening of the third paragraph (To be or not to be is Hamlets famous quote. I bet every single person on earth has come to this decision) makes neither logical nor rhetorical star.The writer attempts to quote texts directly but lacks the skill to incorporate quoted material properly.The writer shows a limited syntactic repertoire the first paragraph, for example, contains four rhetorical questions out of six sentences.Errors of grammar, usage, and mechanics accumulate to detract from meaning there are several missing apostrophes and fragments (see the second sentence of the net paragraph, for example).Sample student essay with a score of 2Value of LifeThis is a question that runs through everybodys mind. What would somebody pay for a life? What would you do if your life ended tomorrow? Would you tell someone that you cared about the most that you loved them? What would you do for your utmost hours? How do you think the people aboard the 9/11 plane attack matt-up as soon as they knew that they werent going to see their families anymore? These questions are all very goods questions but the most important one is Have you been living the life that you wanted to live?Humans always follow others ways of posture and ways of thinking. People picking up laughs, looks, even the way they think about other people. Think of it this wayif someone put a gun to year head and they said, Give me three reasons why I should not pull this trigger? What would you say? It might sound like a harsh, blunt question but if you think about it. where you living your life to the fullest?Posers always get on everybodys nerves. They are going to look back on their lives and think what they did was really stupid. Their values of life are following somebodys elses fo otstep, following others stories, what they like, dont like because they cant think for themselves. They rely on other people to make their decisions for them.The final thought is the toughest thought of all. Things all bundled up inside your head. The only thing to realize is that people dont make you who you are. You make the decisions that will lead your life, the rest of your life. What would your family get if you died? lay out on an extra $50,000 in pain and suffering for a spouse and for each child. Thats what you would get. Now think to yourself, are you living your life to the fullest, what you think is good?Ripley, Amanda. What is a life worth? Time 11 Feb. 2002.CommentaryThis essay illustrates the EPT Scoring Guides criteria for a score of 2. The serious flaws here indicate that this writer will need considerable additional practice before being able to succeed in college-level reading and writing. Because this prompt asks for an edited (that is, revised and polished) es say, student papers should reflect the appropriate degree of organization, content, and editing.The essay opens with a statement about questions, followed by six rhetorical questions in a row.The writer seriously overuses the questioning strategy, with three additional questions in the second paragraph and two in the fourth (concluding) paragraph the essay itself finishes with a question.The essay neglects the prompt it discusses values rather than the value of life.The final paragraph attempts to approach the prompt by quoting Ripley (although the writer does not ascribe the quoted material), but the quotation is ineffectively dropped into the concluding text.The essay does not demonstrate any discernible organizational strategy.Some sentences make no sense at all, such as People picking up laughs, looks, even the way they think about other people.Errors in grammar, usage, and mechanics are present but not all that profound lack of logic and content is the issue with this essay.Sa mple student essay with a score of 1The Value of LifePeople put a money aspect on people for example, when people have money then we need them, we dont even care about anyone unless they have money. When disaters like sunamis happen, people want to find there family but dont understand the water infect and no one nos whats happening to any one any where.Katrina for example. They (the army) use colors were dead are, yellow were sick are, green x marker the spot were people who are worth saving were. We help people every where in the world but no our own people, to spell them, even the army was there making every one get out of there house if they wanted to or not, they might get shot if not. People have always come here to make a new lives and this is what happens? Its way messed up. Is this how to value people?Shakespeare new how bad life can be. To be or not to be said Hamlet who thought not. We have to find out a way to help and over come what might happen next so every one is not so discouraged because money is not the answer or stocks or bonds or jewelers but only love.CommentaryThis essay illustrates the EPT Scoring Guides criteria for a score of 1. The fundamental deficiencies here indicate that this writer will need a great deal of additional practice before being