"Evidence is not truth. It is only evident" (O'Brien 30).
"One plus one equals zero" (60). "In every trick there are two carefully thought out lines - the way it looks and the way it is" (97). "I could smell the sin. I could feel the butchery sizzling like grease just under my eyeballs" (199). "The human desire for certainty collides with our love of enigma" (266). "Our own children, our fathers, our wives and husbands: do we truly know them?" (295). "It's odd how the mind erases horror" (298). |
the trial
Trial Groups 2018
They ran away together
Austin D Zach Braeden Dylan Jaden Jared Macks Karlie Ky Sally |
Kathy ran away
Pat Charles Nicole Tricia Tracey Austin L Zeke |
John killed Kathy
Megan Marisa JR Jack Alex Sam Gabby Lizzy Champayne Nick |
The Assignment
At the end of Tim O’Brien’s novel, In the Lake of the Woods, it becomes evident that the author has left the true solution to the mystery surrounding the disappearance of Kathy Wade up to the readers. Four possible solutions emerge from the text:
1. She ran off with another man.
2. She got lost on the lake and drowned or died in an accident.
3. John Wade killed her.
4. John and she planned and completed an escape together.
Imagine you are a member of a law firm required to prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that one of these four cases is the truth. In order to achieve a winning verdict, you must not only present strong evidence for your own case, but you must present evidence that weakens the other four cases, and you must be able to refute any evidence your opponents give against your case. All these arguments must be strong in order for you to win!
Step 1: Organize Your Firm
•You must first join one of the five firms available. Each firm will be arguing one of the above cases (in bold). It is best to try to join a firm in which you feel strongly about the solution, as passion makes it easier to argue! (Not to mention, more fun...)
•Each firm will choose from its members a District Attorney (D.A.), who will be in charge of:
--Assigning individual duties to the firm’s lawyers (such as choosing who researches which briefs).
--Reporting the firm’s progress in each argument to the Judge (teacher) every day. Failure to report results in a loss of votes in the final outcome (see below)!
--Assigning speaking roles for the lawyers during the actual trial dates.
Needless to say, the D.A. should be one of the more responsible individuals in the firm, with a good attendance record!
Step 2: Preparing Your Case, Counter-arguments, and Rebuttals
•Once your firm is organized, it needs to begin preparation on the case it will present to the Judge and Jury (teacher and class). The case needs to be proved using:
— Evidence from the book. If your firm’s members did a good job of collecting quotes and summarizing, you can thumb through your quote logs for evidence, and then find the page numbers where you might wish to dig deeper for more in-depth proof.
-- Exhibits to further illustrate your evidence. Exhibits include pictures, props, or other physical evidence you can use to strengthen and show your case (in other words, visual aids).
--Logical organization and careful presentation. Your firm will have 15 minutes to present its argument, so all your proof must fit into that space. Having too little will weaken your case, and the Judge will cut you off if you have too much.
•In order to ensure that your case is a winner, you must be prepared to refute (argue against) the other cases presented. Your firm must plan a counter-argument for each of the other three cases, using evidence and exhibits to disprove these. Your firm will only have about 5 minutes to disprove each case, so you must pick the most logical counter-argument (Hint: Have several prepared and use the one that most fully refutes the argument given by the presenting firm).
•Finally, it is obvious that each of the other firms is plotting to refute your firm’s case, so you must prepare a rebuttal, in which you prove its counter-arguments wrong. In order to do this, you must look for the weaknesses in your own case, and find evidence and exhibits that counterbalance or eliminate those weaknesses. (Hint: It is, again, best to prepare several rebuttals, even if you may not need them all. It would be unfortunate for your firm to not have a rebuttal to another firm’s counter-argument!)
Step 3: Presenting Your Case
•Each firm will have a day to present its case, hear counter-arguments from the other firms, and give rebuttals to these arguments.
•At the end of all of these days, the Judge (teacher) and Jury (class) will vote on the following criteria:
—Whose case was the strongest?
—Whose counter-arguments were the best?
—Whose rebuttals were the best?
Jury members may not vote for their own firms! The results of this poll will be tallied (with deductions in votes for any firm who failed to report its progress), and the overall winner’s member lawyers will receive a substantial reward for winning the trial!
1. She ran off with another man.
2. She got lost on the lake and drowned or died in an accident.
3. John Wade killed her.
4. John and she planned and completed an escape together.
Imagine you are a member of a law firm required to prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that one of these four cases is the truth. In order to achieve a winning verdict, you must not only present strong evidence for your own case, but you must present evidence that weakens the other four cases, and you must be able to refute any evidence your opponents give against your case. All these arguments must be strong in order for you to win!
Step 1: Organize Your Firm
•You must first join one of the five firms available. Each firm will be arguing one of the above cases (in bold). It is best to try to join a firm in which you feel strongly about the solution, as passion makes it easier to argue! (Not to mention, more fun...)
•Each firm will choose from its members a District Attorney (D.A.), who will be in charge of:
--Assigning individual duties to the firm’s lawyers (such as choosing who researches which briefs).
--Reporting the firm’s progress in each argument to the Judge (teacher) every day. Failure to report results in a loss of votes in the final outcome (see below)!
--Assigning speaking roles for the lawyers during the actual trial dates.
Needless to say, the D.A. should be one of the more responsible individuals in the firm, with a good attendance record!
Step 2: Preparing Your Case, Counter-arguments, and Rebuttals
•Once your firm is organized, it needs to begin preparation on the case it will present to the Judge and Jury (teacher and class). The case needs to be proved using:
— Evidence from the book. If your firm’s members did a good job of collecting quotes and summarizing, you can thumb through your quote logs for evidence, and then find the page numbers where you might wish to dig deeper for more in-depth proof.
-- Exhibits to further illustrate your evidence. Exhibits include pictures, props, or other physical evidence you can use to strengthen and show your case (in other words, visual aids).
--Logical organization and careful presentation. Your firm will have 15 minutes to present its argument, so all your proof must fit into that space. Having too little will weaken your case, and the Judge will cut you off if you have too much.
•In order to ensure that your case is a winner, you must be prepared to refute (argue against) the other cases presented. Your firm must plan a counter-argument for each of the other three cases, using evidence and exhibits to disprove these. Your firm will only have about 5 minutes to disprove each case, so you must pick the most logical counter-argument (Hint: Have several prepared and use the one that most fully refutes the argument given by the presenting firm).
•Finally, it is obvious that each of the other firms is plotting to refute your firm’s case, so you must prepare a rebuttal, in which you prove its counter-arguments wrong. In order to do this, you must look for the weaknesses in your own case, and find evidence and exhibits that counterbalance or eliminate those weaknesses. (Hint: It is, again, best to prepare several rebuttals, even if you may not need them all. It would be unfortunate for your firm to not have a rebuttal to another firm’s counter-argument!)
Step 3: Presenting Your Case
•Each firm will have a day to present its case, hear counter-arguments from the other firms, and give rebuttals to these arguments.
•At the end of all of these days, the Judge (teacher) and Jury (class) will vote on the following criteria:
—Whose case was the strongest?
—Whose counter-arguments were the best?
—Whose rebuttals were the best?
Jury members may not vote for their own firms! The results of this poll will be tallied (with deductions in votes for any firm who failed to report its progress), and the overall winner’s member lawyers will receive a substantial reward for winning the trial!
My Lai and In the Lake of the Woods
"Who are we? Where do we go? The ambiguity may be dissatisfying, even irritating, but this is a love story" (O'Brien 301).
If In the Lake of the Woods is a love story, why does is there so much emphasis on war? Why would the author include this very dark -- often unknown -- true war story in a fictional "love" story? What might this suggest about human nature and the nature of love?
Reference "How to Tell a True War Story," the My Lai documentary, our class discussions, and In the Lake of the Woods in your response.
If In the Lake of the Woods is a love story, why does is there so much emphasis on war? Why would the author include this very dark -- often unknown -- true war story in a fictional "love" story? What might this suggest about human nature and the nature of love?
Reference "How to Tell a True War Story," the My Lai documentary, our class discussions, and In the Lake of the Woods in your response.