Discussion and Concepts for "A Crime of Compassion" Per. 6

ACOC

QaI

Mankind does not have the right to die

 “meddling in God’s work was our duty” -- Should we be?

Why is mankind so afraid of death?

Should doctors be able to “force life on a suffering man?”

Purpose

Feel like letting the person die was the right thing to do…in this kind of specific circumstance

Comment on Mankind’s tendency to hold on to moral absolutes when discussing obscure / complicated / ambiguous

Defend herself from accusations – and reassure herself that what she did was right

Scope

Leaves out the reactions of the other medics and family members to her actions

*Mentions – if a doctor had written a no code order, would he have felt any less guilty?”

You see one family member action – begging for the doctors to stop the code

Includes religious references “illustion of salvation through science” “meddling with God’s work” “Spiritual judge”

Evidence

“resuscitated him 52 times in one month”

Mac – quotes him begging for mercy and asking to “let me go” – addresses the question of being a “murderer” and indicates that it was with consent

Timeline – within 6 mo. He is ready to die

Juxtaposition of descriptions of Mac before and after the cancer treatment

Concepts

Judging the meaning of quality of life,

Death is necessary

Humans have assumed the role of God

Implications

“life” implies that there is a different meaning of life than the literal definition

“60 pound skeleton” uses imagery / metaphor to imply that he is already really dead”

Inferences

“When he was still lucid enough” Implies that Mac will never get better, and that this opinion wouldn’t change later, even though he loses the ability to communicate with this level of clarity.

Assumptions

Uses examples of what the patient was going through – assumes audience will feel pity for him, and less antagonistic towards her

POV

Written from the perspective of a medic – experiences with PAS and the choices involved, more real to her – actual experiences instead of an intellectual exercise

*Possibly biased on the issue due to personal relationship

EXTENDED RESPONSE:

EVALUATE: Compare the writing style / rhetorical elements of this piece with one of the others, commenting on what makes this article a more or less effective way of addressing the issue.

*keep in mind that the different authors have different purposes.

*write in complete paragraphs, and support your characterizations with specific (quoted) evidence from the passages.