Dear students,

Please read the article below, and take notes on your reactions. After you read the article, you have some discussion questions. 

What Is a Hero?

We often talk about soldiers, firefighters and fictional characters with supernatural powers as heroes. Recently, the news media have used the term to describe three Americans who helped foil an attack on a speeding train in Europe.

But what really is a hero? Does heroism always involve physical strength, or are there other qualities that define being a hero?

In “Americans Resist Hero Label After Foiling Train Attack,” Adam Nossiter writes:

PARIS — Looking awed by the sumptuous gilded surroundings of the United States ambassador’s residence here, the three young American men who thwarted an attack on a Paris-bound express train appeared at a news conference on Sunday, brushing aside suggestions that they were heroes.

Airman First Class Spencer Stone; Alek Skarlatos, a specialist in the Oregon National Guard; and Anthony Sadler, a friend of theirs, sat side by side, soberly recounting how a European vacation swiftly turned into something else. In their telling, the dramatic moments in the railway car could have been a particularly lively finish to an otherwise great night out: no heroics, and nothing dramatic about it.

Asked what had motivated him to confront a heavily armed man, Mr. Stone, his arm in a sling and one eye bruised from the struggle with the young Moroccan suspect, said simply, “To survive.”

There was no mistaking the gunman’s determination, Mr. Stone said. “He seemed like he was ready to fight to the end, and so were we,” he told reporters.

He was the first of the Americans to tackle the suspect, Ayoub El Khazzani, and he spoke first, blurting out the story as if he were eager to get it over with.

“I kind of woke up from the middle of a deep sleep,” Mr. Stone said. “I turned around and I saw he had an AK-47 and it looked like” the weapon “wasn’t working, and he was trying to charge his weapon, and Alek just hit on my shoulder and said, ‘Let’s go,’” Mr. Stone said. “And I went down, tackled him and put him on the ground, and Alek came up and grabbed the thing out of his hand.”

But the trouble was not over. “It seemed like he just kept pulling more weapons,” Mr. Stone said. Those included a box cutter with which he sliced up the young airman’s hand.

The three held Mr. Khazzani and punched him until he fell unconscious. “The guy had a lot of ammo,” Mr. Skarlatos said.

Right to the end of the brief encounter with reporters here, the men remained modest. “It was just, mostly, survival,” Mr. Skarlatos said.

“Hiding and sitting back is not going to do anything,” Mr. Sadler said.

Posting

After reading/annotating the above article, please reflect on the following questions:

• What is a hero? What qualities do you look for in a hero? Does heroism always require physical strength, or can it be defined in other ways?
• Does heroism demand extraordinary circumstances, like a train attack or war? Or can heroism take place in our everyday lives? Can anyone be a hero?
• Do you think Spencer Stone, Alek Skarlatos and Anthony Sadler are heroes? Or are they right in resisting the label? Why?

Gonchar, Michael. “What Is a Hero?” The Learning Network What Is a Hero Comments. N.p., 25 Aug. 2015. Web. 09 Dec. 2015, <http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/08/25/what-is-a-hero/ (Links to an external site.)>.

There is no right or wrong answer to these questions. You are writing to explore and develop ideas. When you have something you will like to share, post it here. 

Responding to Discussion Board

In our course, we always respond to our peers on the discussion board within 24 hours after the posting due date. Initial posts and response are always welcome early. You may turn them in any time after you have completed the work.

• Please respond to two other students.
• Please be sure to use Netiquette in your response.
• In your response, indicate one interesting compare or contrast from your response and your peer’s response and you may either politely challenge a claim or idea your peer has about flood myths, or acknowledge an interesting insight (or both!).

Rubric

You will graded by the following criteria. Did you:

1. respond to the question(s) asked of you
2. meet the minimum length requirement for the assigned reflection
3. write your response in standard written English that has been appropriately edited
4. organize your work into paragraphs as appropriate
5. respond to your peers thoughtfully

A hero is someone who goes above and beyond what’s expected of them. Anyone can be a hero- we have countless heroes who are doing their jobs and maintaining the peace everyday, and we might not even notice it.