Hi 8s!

Your task is to write up your newspaper article on a Near Death Experience (NDE). Think about style and structure, so you might want pictures, a headline and subtitles. Ideally present it in columns too! Feel free to do it on the computer, or by hand, I don’t mind either way!

All the information about the NDEs we looked at in class are available here. There’s also a massive archive of NDEs at the Near Death Experience Research Foundation – you’re very welcome to look up information of your own!

Remember, the article needs to include:

• A description of the Near Death Experience
• Arguments people might give For and Against the NDE being real
• Your opinion about whether the experience was real and is proof of an afterlife

Possible arguments in favour of NDEs being real are:

• Lots of people experience similar things – they can’t all be lying, can they?
• Often there are no drugs involved so there is no reason for people to hallucinate
• Lives are changed for the better by an experience of the afterlife
• Here is an article explaining an argument FOR (quite complex)

Possible arguments against NDEs being real are:

• People experience similar things in normal dreams – are these any different?
• It is comforting to people to feel that there will be an afterlife
• The brain cannot function when a person is dead – how can anything happen?

Of course you might have arguments of your own! You might like to look at these questions about NDEs.

Levels:

• Level 4: Description of the Near Death Experience
• Level 5: Explanation of the arguments for and against NDEs being real
• Level 6: Analysis of the arguments. You start to go into depth with the arguments. You think about whether the arguments are any good or not.
• Level 7: Evaluation of the arguments. You analyse the arguments for and against to come to a balanced conclusion about which side of the story is stronger.

Good luck! Email me if you have any questions, or you could always leave a comment…

***STOP PRESS – 18th OCT***

Now we’ve done some analysis on whether Cameron’s “past-life experience” might be evidence of life after death I’d like you to add another section to your article. Remember from above the importance of exploring the arguments in favour of Cameron’s experience being real and those against. I’m particularly looking for those who discuss which reasons are the most convincing!

It’d also be great to develop the article you’ve already written based on the feedback you were given today…

Either add another page to the article you’ve got, or you can combine them together. Either way the finished piece of work needs to address the question of whether there is evidence of life after death.

The final, final piece of work needs to be handed in on Thursday 8th November!

Well done again for your work today… You were excellent!