LORENZO’S OIL
Please read these questions over before you watch the movie. Take notes from the movie so that you can answer the following questions. The questions should be turned in on Wednesday January 31st. The questions should be numbered, typed in block form and single-spaced; double space between each question.
Character Development
1. What was the family’s reaction to the illness and disability of their son?
2. Compare the reaction of this family to the other families with children who had the same illness. Could every have reacted in the same way the Odones did?
3. Were there any special attributes that the Odone family possessed which permitted them to find a way to stop the deterioration of their son’s health?
4. Did this family’s courage and persistence inspire you? How?
Illness-Disabilities
5. Would it have been more merciful for Lorenzo to have been permitted to die?
6. ALD is a recessive sex linked or X-linked disease. If this is a partial family tree for the Odone’s, what are the probable genotypes of the family members listed:
XA= normal neurons and xa=ALD
Aunt #1……X-X-
Aunt #2……X-X-
Aunt Dee…..X-X-
Michaela…..X-X-
Augusto……X-Y-
Lorenzo……X-Y-
7. Should the mother have felt guilty about transmitting ALD to her son?
8. Because of what happened to Michaela Odone, do you think that she reacted in a right way to her son’s illness? What would you have done?
9. Describe the relationship between Michaela and her sister.
The Science of ALD
10. From the description of the disease, ALD, (adrenoleukodystrophy) sketch what Lorenzo’s neurons most likely looked like after a year. Include a sketch of a normal neuron
11. What was Augusto Odone’s plumbing example used to explain?
12. How did diet affect the disease’s progression? What was “Lorenzo’s Oil”? Why was it so special?
13. How did Augusto use modeling (paper clips) to solve a scientific problem?
14. Why did they encounter resistance from the medical community and from the support organization? What did you learn from observing this behavior?
15. How did the Odone family use the scientific method to help solve Lorenzo’s problem?
16. We can learn anything we want to. How did Augusto and Michaela demonstrate this?
Ethical Emphasis
17. What did you think about Dr. Nikolais? Was he a good doctor or not?
18. Is there a difference between fulfilling a responsibility(doing what you are supposed to do) and what the Odones did for Lorenzo?
19. Does everyone need people to help out in times of need?
20. Where would Lorenzo be without those who cared for him?