What happened ten days after the Columbine killings

BOWLING FOR COLUMBINE
(c) Material didáctico elaborado por María Asunción Herrero Díaz como parte del proyecto Redes de
Investigación en Docencia Universitaria 2007-8, financiado por el ICE de la UA y coordinado por la
profesora Mª Lourdes López Ropero.
Useful Vocabulary
1. NRA (National Rifle Association): Asociación Nacional del Rifle
2. Licensed firearm dealer: armería, establecimiento con licencia para vender
armas de fuego.
3. Trigger: gatillo
4. To point a gun at somebody: apuntar a alguien con un arma.
5. To pass a law: aprobar una ley
6. A carnage: carnicería, matanza.
7. Prom (US): baile de etiqueta en los institutos. Baile del último año en el
instituto (12th Grade).
8. To be suspended: ser expulsado temporalmente (del colegio o instituto)
9. Bloodshed: derramamiento de sangre
10. To address a problem: hacer frente a un problema, resolver un problema
11. Unemployment rate: tasa de desempleo
12. Y2k Effect: el efecto 2000
13. To cover: cubrir, informar acerca de algo (Journalism)
14. To buy (col.): tragarse (I don’t buy it= no me lo trago)
15. Buck (fam.): dólar
16. Riot: disturbio.
17. Corporate criminals: empresarios o funcionarios públicos que cometen delitos
de corrupción.
18. To vandalize: dañar, destrozar (intencionadamente)
19. Tax break: desgravación o deducción fiscal
20. To evict: deshauciar
21. Rally (Pol): reunión, mitin
22. Welfare system: sistema o programa de ayudas sociales
23. Faggot (AmE slang): maricón
24. Slum: barrio marginal
LISTENING ACTIVITIES
Scene: about 28 minutes into the film, a date appears on the screen and President
Clinton speaks.
1. On April 20, 1999, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, two students of Columbine
High School, Colorado, killed 12 students and one teacher. Afterwards, they killed
themselves.
Answer these questions:
1. What happened ten days after the Columbine killings? What did the mayor of
Denver ask Charlton Heston and the NRA (National Rifle Association)?
2. What was the message of the mayor of Denver for the NRA?
3. What is the opinion of one of the creators of South Park about Eric and Dylan?
4. What happened to the singer Marilyn Manson after the killings?
5. When interviewed by Michael Moore, Marilyn Manson says “It’s a campaign of
fear and consumption”. What does he mean by this statement?
6. What would Marilyn Manson say to the kids at Columbine and the people of
that community?
7. What was the last thing Eric and Dylan did before the massacre?
8. Name the three most general reasons given to explain violence in the USA.
2. A six-year-old boy in Flint, Michigan, took a gun from his uncle and shoot a
classmate. As this happened in Michael Moore’s hometown, he investigates the
case and interviews some people related to the incident. Decide whether the
following statements are true or false
1. The little boy who shot his classmate was living with his uncle because his
mother was about to be evicted from her house.
2. Many of the reporters who covered Kayla Rolland’s funeral visited the school
that she attended.
3. 87% of the students in Buell, Beecher and Flint live below the official poverty
line.
4. The main cause of death among young people in that part of Flint is suicide.
5. Nobody wanted to try the six-year-old boy who shot his classmate.
6. After the incident in Buell school, there was not a social undercurrent of racism,
hate and anger.
7. Tamarla Owens, the boy’s mother, no longer worked as part of the State of
Michigan’s Welfare Award Program in order to get food stamps and health care
for her children.
8. According to the sheriff, the Welfare Award Program should be stopped because
it has no merit.
9. Tamarla Owens worked as a bartender in Dick Clark’s restaurant .
10. Even though Tamarla worked up to 60 hours a week at her two jobs she did not
earn enough to pay her rent.