Keywords
Caleb Schwab tragedy analysis, Laser Loop structured process, Toulmin model argumentative writing
Preview
On August 7, 2016, ten-year-old Caleb Schwab rode the world’s tallest water slide, the Verrückt (German for “insane”) at the Schlitterbahn Water Park in Kansas City. During the 168-foot plummet, Caleb came free from his safety harness, was ejected into the safety netting, and died from what was originally classified as a “neck injury” but later identified as a decapitation. His family has mourned him in public, expressing their grief but also their intention to prevent similar tragedies. According to CBS news, the two adult women riding the raft with Caleb, mothers themselves, have threatened litigation, pending an investigation, to make sure nothing like this happens again to other families (“Women with Boy”). Finally, representatives of Schlitterbahn Water Park have publicly expressed their sorrow, saying “We honestly don’t know what’s happened.” Many Schlitterbahn employees, as parents and grandparents, took their own children and grandchildren down the Verrückt. They described themselves as “heartbroken” and committed to “a full investigation.” They ruled that the Verrückt should be “closed permanently” since that was “the only proper course of action” to take (Mizoguchi).
Recommended Citation
Weyand, Larkin
(2017)
"The Laser Loop: A Structured Process Approach activity for Teaching Argumentative Writing,"
The Utah English Journal: Vol. 45, Article 8.
Available at:
https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/uej/vol45/iss1/8