A Monthly Newsletter for Teachers of English April 2009
STARTING OFF
Look at the quotations about heroes below.
 A champion is someone who gets up when he can't.
Jack Dempsey, boxer, world champion.
 A man is a hero, not because he is braver than anyone else, but because he is brave for 10 minutes longer.
Ralph Waldo Emerson, writer and philosopher.
 "The real hero is always a hero by mistake; he dreams of being an honest coward like everybody else.
Umberto Eco, writer.
 If everyone was satisfied with himself, there would be no heroes.
Mark Twain, writer.
Work with a partner and answer the questions.
1. What are the speakers trying to say about heroism? For example:
In the first quote, Dempsey is saying that being a hero is about never giving up, even if something is impossible.
2. Do you agree with any of the quotations? What do you think it means to be a hero?
BEFORE YOU READ
You are going to read a text about a remarkable man, Clarence Darrow. Below are some quotations from Darrow. Try to
match the beginnings and ends of the quotations.
When I was a boy I was told anyone could be president; of teaching children not to doubt
The first half of our lives is ruined by our parents you lose the power to think
Just think of the tragedy that s one of the things wrong with it
History repeats itself, now I m beginning to believe it
If you lose the power to laugh and the second by our children
Do any of the quotes seem insightful to you? Clever? Unintelligent? What can you tell about Darrow from them?
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 A C T I V I T I E S S H E E T April 2009
FIRST READING
Read the text about Darrow quickly. What is the purpose of the text?
Is it objective (factual and balanced) or subjective (emphasising certain points to make a case)?
Is it positive, neutral or negative in tone?
Is the author trying to inform the reader or to convince the reader?
SECOND READING
Read the text again more carefully. There are three pictures at the top (A, B and C). What do they illustrate? Find parts of
the text which relate to the pictures.
THIRD READING
Look at the text again and put these events from Darrow s life in order.
DEFEND EUGENE DEBS MOVE TO CHICAGO STUDY LAW AT UNIVERSITY
DEFEND JOHN SCOPES DEFEND OSSIAN SWEET WORK AS A RAILROAD LAWYER
1957 Clarence Darrow was born
&
&
...
&
&
...
1938 Clarence Darrow dies
VOCABULARY 1
A number of words in the text are highlighted. Match them to the definitions below.
1. A job or activity that is this lets you earn a lot of money & & & & & & & & & & & & & ..
2. To make someone feel strong emotions, especially sadness or sympathy & & & & & & & & & & & & & ..
3. To start something, especially something new, difficult, or exciting & & & & & & & & & & & & & ..
4. To finish university successfully and gain a degree & & & & & & & & & & & & & ..
5. To leave one side of a dispute and join the other & & & & & & & & & & & & & ..
6. A long hard fight to get freedom, political rights etc & & & & & & & & & & & & & ..
7. To think of someone or something in a particular way & & & & & & & & & & & & & ..
8. To be in a good position to achieve some kind of success & & & & & & & & & & & & & ..
9. Very untidy (clothes or hair) & & & & & & & & & & & & & ..
10.To give up something valuable to achieve your goal & & & & & & & & & & & & & ..
11.Something that makes your life difficult or unpleasant & & & & & & & & & & & & & ..
12.Very untidy and scruffy (clothes or a bed) & & & & & & & & & & & & & ..
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 A C T I V I T I E S S H E E T April 2009
VOCABULARY 2
Use the words to complete the sentences below. You may need to change the form to suit the sentence. There are ten
sentences, so two of the words are not needed.
1. We were poor when I was young. It was a life of great & & & & & & & & & & ..
2. He passed his exams with top marks and looked & & & & & & & & & & .. a great career.
3. I have always & & & & & & & & & & .. that to be his best novel.
4. I & & & & & & & & & & .. in medicine, but decided I didn t want to be a doctor and went back to university to study law.
5. The music was wonderful, but so sad it & & & & & & & & & & .. me to tears.
6. His hair was & & & & & & & & & & .. and his clothes dirty, but the smile was broad and his eyes wee shining.
7. At the age of 16 Joseph Conrad & & & & & & & & & & .. his first voyage out to sea.
8. At first I didn t recognise the senator, his clothes were so & & & & & & & & & & .. and his hair was such a mess.
9. The hotel business can be very & & & & & & & & & & .. if you are a talented manager.
10.It took hundreds of years of & & & & & & & & & & .. before black people in the United States gained full civil rights.
SPEAKING
Discuss the questions below with your friends:
The author of the text thinks Darrow is  an admirable man . Do you agree?
What makes a person admirable? What kind of qualities in people do you admire?
Which people, living or dead, would you describe as admirable? Why?
WRITING
Work in groups of three or four. Choose a person from history who you admire and from whom you think we can learn
something and write a similar text to the one you read. Plan your text carefully before you start writing.
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 A C T I V I T I E S S H E E T April 2009
In 1894 the railroad Darrow always looked to tremendously eloquent
An Admirable Man
decided to cut workers help those most in need: speaker, able to move
Clarence Darrow: lawyer
wages by 30%; the the poor, minorities, the listeners, whether jurors or
to the weak, defender of
workers started a strike hated or feared. He also judges, with the power of
civil rights, friend of the
and Darrow, as the took an interest in science his words. Darrow devoted
friendless.
railroad company s lawyer, and education and his his life to fighting the death
Clarence Darrow was born
was to take the case. most famous trial reflected penalty, which he
in 1857 and studied law at
Darrow, however, decided this - the Scopes Monkey considered immoral, and in
the University of Michigan.
that the railroads were Trial. Crowds watched 100 cases involving the
After graduating he moved
wrong and so he crossed Darrow and his famous death penalty in his career
to Chicago and became a
the barricades, becoming opponent William Jennings only once was his client
corporate lawyer for the
a union lawyer fighting the Bryan - a three-time executed. Many of
railroad company. All
railroad corporations. This presidential candidate - Darrow s speeches on
seemed set fair for a
was a great sacrifice for debate whether evolution capital punishment are still
typical - and highly
Darrow: he left a safe, should be taught in quoted today by its
lucrative  career
well-paid job which would schools. opponents. Clarence
defending the interests of
have taken him very high Darrow died in 1938 at the
Although Darrow was
business against states,
indeed in business and age of 82. He is
unimpressive in
unions and individuals. But
instead embarked on a considered one of the
appearance - his hair often
this was not Darrow s
career of financial hardship United States greatest
dishevelled, his clothes
future.
and unpopular struggle. ever lawyers.
rumpled - he was a
The Eugene Debs Trial The Sweet Trial The Scopes Monkey Trial
Eugene Debs was the leader of the Dr. Ossian Sweet, a black man, At the start of the 20th century, the
railroad workers union and was bought a house in a white part of the teaching of evolution - specifically, that
arrested for organising a strike in 1894 city in 1925. A white mob attacked the man was descended from apes  had
protesting against conditions of work. house; one of the attackers was killed been controversially banned in many
The railroad company, Pullman, used and Sweet was accused of murder. US states. In 1925 a test case took
the army to break up the strike and place in Dayton, Tennessee. A
Darrow defended Sweet on the
Debs was arrested. At the time, teacher, John Scopes, was tried for
grounds of self-defence and gave a
Darrow was a lawyer for the railroad teaching evolution. He did not deny it
wonderful seven-hour speech during
corporation but gave up his job to but it gave the 70-year-old Darrow the
the trial suggesting that if Sweet were
switch sides. In the end Darrow lost chance to argue publicly about the
white and the attackers black then no
the case and Debs was imprisoned for importance of science in schools.
one would call it murder. In the end
six months. Debs later became a three Scopes was convicted but Darrow s
Darrow won; Sweet was acquitted and
time presidential candidate. arguments made a great impression.
the charges were dropped.
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