When a Man Lost Himself
Grammar: Modal Verbs
A Level 5 English lesson exploring psychology.
What's in this lesson
A Level 5 (advanced) ESL lesson on psychology, practising modal verbs. The worksheet has a reading, target vocabulary, a grammar reference with practice and discussion questions.
From the reading: The Man Who Lost Himself
"He was no longer Gage." That was the verdict of John Martyn Harlow, the physician who treated Phineas Gage after a thirteen-kilogram iron rod passed clean through his skull in September 1848. Gage had been a foreman on the Rutland and Burlington Railroad in Vermont — reliable, efficient, well-liked. He ought to have lived out a quiet working life. Instead, a misplaced blasting charge drove a tamping iron through his left cheek, directly through the prefrontal cortex, and out through the top of his head. He survived. But Harlow was adamant: the personality that walked away from the accident was not the one that had walked into it.
Vocabulary
- construct a narrative
- exercise impulse control
- infer meaning
- reconstruct events
Grammar: Modal Verbs
- should have /
- We should have followed Harlow's case more carefully. — past advisability or mild regret
- ought to have
- He ought to have received better neurological care. — stronger moral expectation about the past
Discussion questions
- Have you noticed how a bad mood can change the decisions you make?
- Why do you think we separate emotion from rational thinking?
- Can someone's personality change completely after a life event?
When a Man Lost Himself
Grammar: Modal Verbs
What's in this lesson:
Full lesson plan with reading, grammar, vocabulary, and discussion.
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