Please use your own paper – do not write on this packet.
“The Cold Equations” Quickwrite
What kinds of choices might we have to make in life that would have difficult consequences—no matter what
we decide to do? Freewrite about such a choice. How would you make a decision when faced with such a
hard choice?
“The Cold Equations”
No Easy Way Out
Some of the most difficult choices in life grow out of a conflict of duties, such as the demands of loyalty
or responsibility. For example, a person may feel a pull between being loyal to one’s family or being loyal to
one’s friends. Or one might have to make a choice between the responsibility to complete a class project and
the responsibility to take care of a sick relative.
In Barton’s case, both of the choices he must make revolve around concern for the lives of other
human beings. In the following graphics, write phrases or brief sentences that tell how Barton shows concern
in each instance.
Concern for Marilyn’s Life
Concern for the Six Fever Victims
1. How does your completed diagram help you to better understand Barton’s dilemma?
2. Tell about a conflict of duties you have read about (perhaps in another story) or seen in a movie or TV
show:
The conflict of duties:
How the conflict was resolved:
How the situation was similar to Barton’s:
Grammar Link:
They Always Agree – Subject and Verb
Have you ever tried catching a football with a softball glove? Sure, you can do it, but it doesn’t feel
right, does it? You could say that the football and the softball glove don’t agree. They are meant for different
sports.
Think of a subject and a verb as being like a ball and glove. Putting a plural subject with a singular verb
is like catching a football with a softball glove. For example, “Marilyn and Gerry has been separated for a long
time” is awkward because it combines a plural subject (Marilyn and Gerry) with a singular verb (has).
However, the sentence “Marilyn and Gerry have been separated for a long time” is like a softball glove
catching a softball. The plural subject (Marilyn an Gerry) agrees with the plural verb (have). This example
illustrates the following grammatical rule: Singular subjects take singular verbs; plural subjects take plural
verbs.
In certain cases, however, the following this simple rule may take a bit of thought. Here are some
considerations to keep in mind when you write.
Guideline
Example
1. The number of the subject is not changed by a
The main characters in the story are recognizably
phrase following the subject.
human. [The plural verb are agrees with the plural
subject characters, not with story, the object of
preposition.]
2. Subject joined by and usually take a plural verb.
Marilyn and Gerry have been separated for a long
EXCEPTION:
time.
A subject joined by and occasionally names one thing. Cutting and running is not one of Marilyn’s options.
For example, rock-and-roll names one kind of music.
3. Singular subjects joined by or or nor take a singular Either the ship or the stowaway is sacrificed.
verb.
4. When a singular subject and a plural subject are
Neither her brother nor her parents know where
joined by or or nor, the verb agrees with the subject
Marilyn is.
nearer the verb.
5. The following indefinite pronouns are singular:
No one likes the ending.
each, either, neither, one, everyone, everybody, no
Everybody roots for Marilyn.
one, nobody, anyone, anybody, someone, somebody.
6. The following indefinite pronouns are plural:
A few in the class are writing a new ending.
several, few, both, many.
7. When the subject follows the verb, make sure the
Here is the unchangeable rule.
verb agrees with it.
What are the consequences?
Exercise A: Identifying Agreement Between Subject and Verb
For each of the following sentences, which are based on details in “The Cold Equations,” write a S and the
subject or subjects. Then, write a V and the word that is in the parentheses that agrees with the subject.
Example: The S rules aboard an EDS (is, are)V are) strictly enforced.
1. The EDS pilot and the cruiser (maintains, maintain) constant contact.
2. Stowaways aboard any EDS (meets, meet) immediate death.
3. Neither Barton’s training nor his values (prepares, prepare) him for this challenge.
4. No one (disputes, dispute) that the rules are necessary.
5. (Isn’t, Aren’t) there any exceptions at all?
6. Marilyn and Gerry (come, comes) from Earth, where rules are gentler.
7. Either the stowaway’s questions or her youth (influence, influences) Barton.
8. How (is, are) Marilyn’s parents affected by the girl’s grave error?
Exercise B: Proofreading Paragraphs
The following paragraphs contain ten errors in subject-verb agreement. Correct the errors by changing the
form of the verb. The first error has been corrected as an example. Please number your paper and write
down the correct subject-verb agreements.
What is science fiction? It seems that no on have (has) come up with a definition that please everyone.
Many defines science fiction, or sci-fi, as a twentieth-century English literary form that focuses on
technological interests. However, this definition leave out such important writers as H. G. Wells and Edgar
Allan Poe, from the nineteenth century—and Jules Verne, who wrote in French! Even in A.D. 150, Lucian of
Samosata wrote about a hero who visited the moon and sun and was involved in interplanetary warfare.
Many scholars of sci-fi dates the form from 1926. In that year, Hugo Gernsback began publishing
Amazing Stories. His magazine were so influential that the annual sci-fi award are called the Hugo. The rising
popularity of sci-fi spawned pulp magazines, B films, and TV shows.
One of the most popular sci-fi writers are Ray Bradbury. Ironically, some sci-fi enthusiasts considers
Bradbury an anti-science fiction writer because his stories and novels tends to warn about technology’s
dangers.
“The Cold Equations”
Please respond in complete sentences on your own paper.
1. How did you think the story would end? Why?
2. What would you say is the source of this story’s suspense—that is, what questions keep you turning
the pages? Refer to the notes you took while reading.
3. This story contrasts life on Earth with life on the space frontier. In what important ways are these
settings different? Do you find Godwin’s space frontier believable? Why or why not?
4. What do you think is the most important passage in this story, and why?
5. Find the passage toward the middle of the story that explains its title. What are the “cold equations”?
What other images of coldness can you find in the story?
6. The title of the story seems to imply that the more technology influences our lives, the less room there
is for human choice and emotions. How does the story illustrate that idea? Do you agree, or not?
Why?
7. How believable are Marilyn’s choice to stow away and her later responses to her fate? If you were in
her situation, how do you think you would react? Be sure to check your Quickwrite notes.
8. “The Cold Equations” was written in 1954, at a time when technology was far less advanced than it is
now. Today we are living in what, to Tom Godwin in 1954, was the future (though not as far in the
future as the story is set). Do you think the technological “future” is turning out to be as cold and
harsh as Godwin expected? Explain your answer with specific examples from your own experience.
You might organize your thoughts on a T-Chart.
9. It says that Barton would have immediately carried out the regulation to eject the stowaway if it had
been a man. What do you think of this attitude?