[에세이 만점은 독서 교육으로부터!] Flush by Carl Hiaasen

Level: 09
Synopsis:

Noah Underwood‘s father, Paine, is a passionate man with strong convictions, but when he sinks a gambling ship, the Coral Queen, because it dumps raw sewage into his beloved ocean, he seems to have gone too far. Now Noah and his sister must try to prove their father’s action was justified in the name of saving the environment from the callous Dusty Muleman, the owner of the Coral Queen who is trying to stop Noah and keep Mr. Paine Underwood in jail forever.

Essay Question

Sinking someone‘s boat and taking the law into your own hands is wrong, but in this story Paine Underwood is the “good guy” who wants to help save the ocean he loves. Pretend Paine is not let out of jail, and that Dusty Muleman presses charges. You be the lawyer and defend Paine in court. You cannot argue he did not sink the boat-Paine already says he did it-so you must explain why he did it and the good he was trying to accomplish in order to persuade the jury they should let Paine go free.

Student Essay

Paine had sunk the Coral Queen because he knew that it polluted the water. Therefore, it is justified that Paine did such act.

The Coral Queen was a casino boat. Paine knew that the Coral Queen polluted the water by dumping sewage from the holding tanks. Therefore, Paine had sunk the boat. If the water was polluted, then most water-living creatures would not survive, such as turtles, fish, and others. Many sea creatures would become nonexistant, and this would lead to a catastrophic downturn for marine biologists.

Dusty Muleman had intentionally polluted the water because he didn’t care about it. He only wanted the money from the casinos, and didn‘t care what would happen. Muleman was the evil one of this situation. Paine, the “good guy,” had justly defended against what was good and what was bad.

Paine should not have been arrested or brought to jail. It should have been Muleman, the inhumane fish-killer, that should have been imprisoned. Paine’s act was justified against the malicious act of Muleman.

Teacher Comments

You should try to BE the lawyer as if you are speaking directly to a jury. Even begin with the phrase, “Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, my client is innocent.” Take the part of the defender. This is an essay in which you must adapt your writing style to a specific “voice”. The voice controls tone and word choice and how you say what you say. Lawyers speak in a certain manner in court. Right? You have seen movies and TV shows with court room scenes, I am sure, so what you need to do is think carefully about HOW you say what you say in this essay.

Sink...sank...sunk. It is an annoying set of verbs, I think. When you say “Therefore, Paine had sunk the boat”, what you really mean is “Therefore, Pain SANK the boat.” No need for the “had.” Keep those verb phrases as smooth and direct as possible.

The lawyer would not say that Paine is the “good guy” in quotes. You would say he is the hero, and Muleman is the villain. You would have to be more direct. As it is now, you are allowing too much distance from Paine. What you have to do is probably say that Paine did commit a crime, yet he is innocent of the real crime. In other words, a greater justice or truth justifies Paine‘s actions. Find a better way to express that clearly to the jury.

You do not require too much repeating of the story in this essay; therefore, play up the part of being the defender and really speak directly to the jury in a way that could sway their opinion about Paine’s already-admitted crime of sinking the casino boat.