Before Reading

from Exploring the Titanic

Narrative Nonfiction by Robert D. Ballard

What can we learn from

disasters ?
KEY IDEA Have you ever learned a lesson the hard way? Unfortunately,
sometimes it takes a disaster to teach us to properly plan for danger.
In the selection you’re about to read, people on an “unsinkable” ship
encounter terrible danger at sea—without enough lifeboats for everyone.

CHART IT When a disaster happens, we try to find out what went wrong
so that we know how to be better prepared in the future. Using a chart
like the one shown, list different types of disasters and things we can
learn from them. Compare your chart with those of your classmates.

Disasters What We Can Learn from Them

Fires We can learn to build safer buildings.

More fire drills will help people know
what to do in emergencies.

98
literary analysis: narrative nonfiction
Narrative nonfiction uses literary elements, such as plot, Underwater Explorer
setting, and conflict, to tell a story. Unlike fiction, though, Robert D. Ballard,
narrative nonfiction tells a true story about events that a pioneer of deep-
really happened. To be accurate, narrative nonfiction relies sea exploration,
on source material, such as quotations from real people, traces his interest
facts from reliable accounts, and photographs. As you read in the ocean to
Exploring the Titanic, notice how literary elements and childhood walks
source material help create a compelling narrative. on the beach in
Review: Suspense San Diego. He was
so fascinated by
sea lore and by the Robert D. Ballard
reading skill: use chronological order crabs washed in
born 1942

When writers use chronological order, or time order, by the tide that he decided to spend
they present events in the order in which they happened. his life by the water. Ballard is trained
To help you recognize time order, look for as a marine geologist, a geophysicist
• calendar dates, such as Wednesday, April 10, 1912 (a mapper of land and oceans), and
a Navy commander. After years of
• clock time, such as shortly after noon and 8:03 P.M.
searching, he found one of the most
• words and phrases that show time order, such as before, important shipwrecks in history—
later, around lunchtime, and for the next ten months the remains of the Titanic.
Use a timeline to track the events of the Titanic’s final day. A World Beneath the Water
The oxygen-poor water at the
Harold Bride receives iceberg bottom of the ocean keeps shipwrecks
warning from operator.
in excellent condition. “There’s
probably more history now preserved
Sunday morning, April 14, 1912 underwater than in all the museums
of the world combined,” Ballard has
Review: Make Inferences observed. To help excavate that history,
Ballard organizes expeditions to areas
vocabulary in context rich in shipwrecks. He explores the
depths with the help of robots and
The boldfaced words help tell the story of this disaster. Use
submersibles, or minisubmarines.
context clues to give a definition for each word.
1. The elegant accommodations thrilled the passengers. Mysteries Solved Ballard’s discovery
2. Adjoining rooms kept families together. solved many mysteries about the
Titanic’s last hours. For instance,
3. There were moderate prices for less luxurious rooms.
pieces on the ocean floor reveal that
4. Travelers enjoyed the novelty of the ship’s first voyage. the ship broke in two before sinking.
5. Some believed they had heard a prophecy of tragedy.
more about the author
6. The crews worked feverishly to avoid a collision. For more on Robert D. Ballard, visit the
7. They were unable to prevent a ghastly disaster at sea. Literature Center at ClassZone.com.

8. Rescue ships were delayed indefinitely.

exploring the TITANIC 99

 xploring the

Robert D. Ballard

T he story of the Titanic began before anyone had even thought about
building the great ship. In 1898, fourteen years before the Titanic
sank, an American writer named Morgan Robertson wrote a book called
ANALYZE VISUALS
What details in the
poster emphasize the
Titanic’s huge size?
The Wreck of the Titan.1 In his story, the Titan, a passenger ship almost
identical to the Titanic, and labeled “unsinkable,” sails from England
headed for New York. With many rich and famous passengers on board,
the Titan hits an iceberg in the North Atlantic and sinks. Because there
are not enough lifeboats, many lives are lost. prophecy (prJfPG-sC) n.
a prediction of the
The story of the Titan predicted exactly what would happen to the future
10 Titanic fourteen years later. It was an eerie prophecy of terrible things
to come. a a CHRONOLOGICAL
In 1907, nearly ten years after The Wreck of the Titan was written, two ORDER
Why do you think Ballard
men began making plans to build a real titanic ship. At a London dinner begins his narrative with
party, as they relaxed over coffee and cigars, J. Bruce Ismay, president a reference to The Wreck
of the White Star Line of passenger ships, and Lord Pirrie, chairman of of the Titan?
Harland & Wolff shipbuilders, discussed a plan to build three enormous

1. Titan: In Greek mythology, the Titans were a race of giants. The word titanic has come to be
applied to any person or thing of great size or power.

Titanic, Olympic, White Star Line (1912),

100 unit 1: plot, conflict, and setting Montague B. Black. Christie’s Images/Corbis.
 ocean liners. Their goal was to give the White Star Line a competitive
edge in the Atlantic passenger trade with several gigantic ships whose
accommodations would be the last word in comfort and elegance. accommodations
20 The two men certainly dreamed on a grand scale.2 When these floating (E-kJmQE-dAPshEnz)
n. rooms and food,
palaces were finally built, they were so much bigger than other ships that especially in a hotel
new docks had to be built on each side of the Atlantic to service them. or on a ship or train
Four years after that London dinner party, the first of these huge liners,
the Olympic, safely completed her maiden voyage.3
On May 31, 1911, the hull of the Titanic was launched at the Harland
& Wolff shipyards in Belfast, Ireland, before a cheering crowd of
100,000. Bands played, and people came from miles around to see this
great wonder of the sea. Twenty-two tons of soap, grease, and train oil
were used to slide her into the water. In the words of one eyewitness,
30 she had “a rudder as big as an elm tree . . . propellers as big as a windmill.
Everything was on a nightmare scale.” b b NARRATIVE
For the next ten months the Titanic was outfitted and carefully NONFICTION
What details help you
prepared down to the last detail. The final size and richness of this new picture the setting of
ship was astounding. She was 882 feet long, almost the length of four city the Titanic’s launch?
blocks. With nine decks, she was as high as an eleven-story building.
Among her gigantic features, she had four huge funnels, each one big
enough to drive two trains through. During construction an astonishing
three million rivets had been hammered into her hull. Her three
enormous anchors weighed a total of thirty-one tons—the weight of
40 twenty cars. And for her maiden voyage, she carried enough food to feed
a small town for several months.
As her name boasted, the Titanic was indeed the biggest ship in the
world. Nicknamed “the Millionaires’ Special,” she was also called “the
Wonder Ship,” “the Unsinkable Ship,” and “the Last Word in Luxury”
by newspapers around the world. c c NARRATIVE
The command of this great ocean liner was given to the senior captain NONFICTION
What do the newspaper
of the White Star Line, Captain Edward J. Smith. This proud, white- quotations add to your
bearded man was a natural leader and was popular with both crew understanding?
members and passengers. Most important, after thirty-eight years’ service
50 with the White Star Line, he had an excellent safety record. At the age of
fifty-nine, Captain Smith was going to retire after this last trip, a perfect
final tribute to a long and successful career.
On Wednesday, April 10, 1912, the Titanic’s passengers began to arrive
in Southampton for the trip to New York. Ruth Becker was dazzled as she
boarded the ship with her mother, her younger sister, and two-year-old
brother, Richard. Ruth’s father was a missionary in India. The rest of the

2. on a grand scale: in a large or impressive way.

3. maiden voyage: very first trip.

102 unit 1: plot, conflict, and setting

 Ruth Becker

Jack Thayer
Illustration of grand staircase © Ken Marschall, from On Board the Titanic, a Hyperion/Madison Press Book.

family was sailing to New York to find medical help for young Richard, ANALYZE VISUALS
who had developed a serious illness in India. They had booked second- The photographs of
Ruth Becker and Jack
class tickets on the Titanic. Thayer are source
60 Twelve-year-old Ruth was delighted with the ship. As she pushed her material. How does
little brother about the decks in a stroller, she was impressed with what seeing the faces of these
she saw. “Everything was new. New!” she recalled. “Our cabin was just young passengers affect
the way you read the
like a hotel room, it was so big. The dining room was beautiful—the selection?
linens, all the bright, polished silver you can imagine.”
Meanwhile, seventeen-year-old Jack Thayer from Philadelphia was
trying out the soft mattress on the large bed in his cabin. The first-class
rooms his family had reserved for themselves and their maid had thick adjoining (E-joiPnGng)
adj. next to or in contact
carpets, carved wooden panels on the walls, and marble sinks. As his with adjoin v.
parents were getting settled in their adjoining stateroom,4 Jack decided
70 to explore this fantastic ship. d d NARRATIVE
On A Deck, he stepped into the Verandah and Palm Court and NONFICTION
What details about
admired the white wicker furniture and the ivy growing up the trellised the setting do you
walls. On the lower decks, Jack discovered the squash court,5 the learn from firsthand
swimming pool, and the Turkish bath6 decorated like a room in a sultan’s observations of people
palace. In the gymnasium, the instructor was showing passengers the on the ship?

4. stateroom: a private cabin on a ship.

5. squash court: a walled court or room for playing squash, in which a rubber ball is hit off the walls.
6. Turkish bath: steam bath.

exploring the TITANIC 103

 First-class
promenade

First-class
cabins

Second-class Second-class Engine

Third-class cabins dining room rooms
Propellers cabins

Illustration © Ken Marschall, from On Board the Titanic, a Hyperion/Madison Press Book.

latest in exercise equipment, which included a mechanical camel you

could ride on, stationary bicycles, and rowing machines.
Daylight shone through the huge glass dome over the Grand Staircase
as Jack went down to join his parents in the first-class reception room.
80 There, with the ship’s band playing in the background, his father
pointed out some of the other first-class passengers. “He’s supposed to
be the world’s richest man,” said his father of Colonel John Jacob Astor,
who was escorting the young Mrs. Astor. He also identified Mr. and Mrs.
Straus, founders of Macy’s of New York, the world’s largest department
store. Millionaire Benjamin Guggenheim was aboard, as were Jack’s
parents’ friends from Philadelphia, Mr. and Mrs. George Widener and
their son, Harry. Mr. Widener had made a fortune building streetcars.
Mr. and Mrs. William Carter were also friends of the Thayers. Stowed
in one of the holds below was a new Renault car that they were bringing
90 back from England.
J. Bruce Ismay, president of the White Star Line, moved about the
room saying hello to people. He wanted to make sure that his wealthy
passengers were comfortable, that they would feel relaxed and safe aboard
his floating palace.

104 unit 1: plot, conflict, and setting

 Gymnasium Crow’s nest
Grand
staircase Morse lamp
First-class Wireless Bridge
lounge room

Third-class cabins

First-class Boiler rooms ANALYZE VISUALS

Third-class dining room Identify which parts of
dining room the boat are dedicated
to the first-, second-, and
third-class passengers.
What differences do
you note?

Indeed, when Ruth Becker’s mother had asked one of the second-class
staff about the safety of the ship, she had been told that there was absolutely
nothing to worry about. The ship had watertight compartments that would
allow her to float indefinitely. There was much talk among the passengers indefinitely
about the Titanic being unsinkable. (Gn-dDfPE-nGt-lC) adv.
for an unlimited length
100 In 1912, people were divided into social classes according to background, of time
wealth, and education. Because of these class lines, the Titanic was rather
like a big floating layer cake. The bottom layer consisted of the lowly
manual workers sweating away in the heat and grime of the boiler rooms
and engine rooms. The next layer was the third-class passengers, people
moderate (mJdPEr-Gt)
of many nationalities hoping to make a new start in America. After that adj. not excessive or
came the second class—teachers, merchants, and professionals of moderate extreme; average
means like Ruth’s family. Then, finally, there was the icing on the cake
in first class: the rich and the aristocratic. The differences between these e NARRATIVE
groups were enormous. While the wealthy brought their maids and valets7 NONFICTION
Why is it important to
110 and mountains of luggage, most members of the crew earned such tiny understand the way
salaries that it would have taken them years to save the money for a single social class influenced
first-class ticket. e the people on the ship?

7. valets (vB-lAzP): gentlemen’s personal servants.

exploring the TITANIC 105

 At noon on Wednesday, April 10, the Titanic cast off. The whistles SCIENCE
CONNECTION
on her huge funnels were the biggest ever made. As she began her journey
to the sea, they were heard for miles around.
Moving majestically down the River Test,8 and watched by a crowd that
had turned out for the occasion, the Titanic slowly passed two ships tied
up to a dock. All of a sudden, the mooring ropes holding the passenger
liner New York snapped with a series of sharp cracks like fireworks going An important
120 off. The enormous pull created by the Titanic moving past her had technological
advancement used
broken the New York’s ropes and was now drawing her stern toward the on the Titanic was the
Titanic. Jack Thayer watched in horror as the two ships came closer and wireless. A wireless
closer. “It looked as though there surely would be a collision,” he later telegraph is a machine
wrote. “Her stern could not have been more than a yard or two from our used for transmitting
and receiving messages.
side. It almost hit us.” At the last moment, some quick action by Captain
Smith and a tugboat captain nearby allowed the Titanic to slide past with
only inches to spare.
It was not a good sign. Did it mean that the Titanic might be too big
a ship to handle safely? Those who knew about the sea thought that such
130 a close call at the beginning of a maiden voyage was a very bad omen. f f SUSPENSE
Reread lines 116–130.
How does the author

J ack Phillips, the first wireless operator on the Titanic, quickly jotted
down the message coming in over his headphones. “It’s another iceberg
warning,” he said wearily to his young assistant, Harold Bride. “You’d
use foreshadowing
to create suspense?

better take it up to the bridge.” Both men had been at work for hours
in the Titanic’s radio room, trying to get caught up in sending out a large
number of personal messages. In 1912, passengers on ocean liners thought
it was a real novelty to send postcard-style messages to friends at home novelty (nJvPEl-tC) n.
from the middle of the Atlantic. something new, original,
or unusual
Bride picked up the iceberg message and stepped out onto the boat deck.
140 It was a sunny but cold Sunday morning, the fourth day of the Titanic’s
maiden voyage. The ship was steaming at full speed across a calm sea.
Harold Bride was quite pleased with himself at having landed a job on such g CHRONOLOGICAL
a magnificent new ship. After all, he was only twenty-two years old and had ORDER
Reread lines 139–141.
just nine months’ experience at operating a “wireless set,” as a ship’s radio was What day does Bride
then called. As he entered the bridge area, he could see one of the crewmen pick up the iceberg
standing behind the ship’s wheel steering her course toward New York. g warning from the
Captain Smith was on duty in the bridge, so Bride handed the message operator? Begin your
timeline by recording
to him. “It’s from the Caronia,9 sir. She’s reporting icebergs and pack ice this event. As you read
ahead.” The captain thanked him, read the message, and then posted on, record each major
150 it on the bulletin board for other officers on watch to read. On his way event that follows.

8. the River Test: a river flowing into the English Channel at Southampton, the city in England from which
the Titanic set sail.
9. Caronia (kE-rIPnC-E).

106 unit 1: plot, conflict, and setting

 Harold Bride

Illustration © Ken Marschall, from On Board the Titanic, a Hyperion/Madison Press Book.

back to the radio room, Bride thought the captain had seemed quite
unconcerned by the message. But then again, he had been told that it was
not unusual to have ice floating in the sea lanes during an April crossing.
Besides, what danger could a few pieces of ice present to an unsinkable ship?
Elsewhere on board, passengers relaxed on deck chairs, reading or taking
naps. Some played cards, some wrote letters, while others chatted with
friends. As it was Sunday, church services had been held in the morning,
the first-class service led by Captain Smith. Jack Thayer spent most of the
day walking about the decks getting some fresh air with his parents.
160 Two more ice warnings were received from nearby ships around lunch
time. In the chaos of the radio room, Harold Bride only had time to take
one of them to the bridge. The rest of the day passed quietly. Then, in the
late afternoon, the temperature began to drop rapidly. Darkness approached
as the bugle call announced dinner.
Jack Thayer’s parents had been invited to a special dinner for Captain
Smith, so Jack ate alone in the first-class dining room. After dinner, as
he was having a cup of coffee, he was joined by Milton Long, another
passenger going home to the States. Long was older than Jack, but in the
easy-going atmosphere of shipboard travel, they struck up a conversation
170 and talked together for an hour or so. h h CHRONOLOGICAL
At 7:30 p.m., the radio room received three more warnings of ice about ORDER
Reread lines 160–170.
fifty miles ahead. One of them was from the steamer Californian reporting About how much time
three large icebergs. Harold Bride took this message up to the bridge, and passes between these
it was again politely received. Captain Smith was attending the dinner iceberg warnings and
party being held for him when the warning was delivered. He never got Jack’s conversation?

exploring the TITANIC 107

 to see it. Then, around 9:00 p.m., the captain excused himself and went up
to the bridge. He and his officers talked about how difficult it was to spot
icebergs on a calm, clear, moonless night like this with no wind to kick
up white surf around them. Before going to bed, the captain ordered
180 the lookouts to keep a sharp watch for ice.
After trading travel stories with Milton Long, Jack Thayer put on his
coat and walked around the deck. “It had become very much colder,” he said
later. “It was a brilliant, starry night. There was no moon, and I have never
seen the stars shine brighter . . . sparkling like diamonds. . . . It was the kind
of night that made one feel glad to be alive.” At eleven o’clock, he went
below to his cabin, put on his pajamas, and got ready for bed. i i NARRATIVE
In the radio room, Harold Bride was exhausted. The two operators NONFICTION
How does the inclusion
were expected to keep the radio working twenty-four hours a day, and
of primary source
Bride lay down to take a much-needed nap. Phillips was so busy with material—Jack Thayer’s
190 the passenger messages that he actually brushed off the final ice warning firsthand observation—
of the night. It was from the Californian. Trapped in a field of ice, she help you better
had stopped for the night about nineteen miles north of the Titanic. She understand what it
must have been like on
was so close that the message literally blasted in Phillips’s ears. Annoyed the ship that night?
by the loud interruption, he cut off the Californian’s radio operator with
the words, “Shut up, shut up. I’m busy.”
The radio room had received a total of seven ice warning messages in one
day. It was quite clear that floating icebergs lay ahead of the Titanic. J J SUSPENSE
High up in the crow’s nest on the forward mast, Fred Fleet had passed Reread lines 187–197.
What details in these
a quiet watch. It was now 11:40 p.m., and he and his fellow lookout were
lines create a sense of
200 waiting to be relieved so they could head below, perhaps for a hot drink worry and dread?
before hopping into their warm bunks. The sea was dead calm. The air
was bitterly cold.
Suddenly, Fleet saw something. A huge, dark shape loomed out of the
night directly ahead of the Titanic. An iceberg! He quickly sounded the
alarm bell three times and picked up the telephone.
Illustration by Ken Marschall © 1992 from Titanic: An Illustrated History. Hyperion/Madison Press Books.
 “What did you see?” asked the duty officer.
“Iceberg right ahead,” replied Fleet.
Immediately, the officer on the bridge ordered the wheel turned as far
as it would go. The engine room was told to reverse the engines, while
210 a button was pushed to close the doors to the watertight compartments
in the bottom of the ship.
The lookouts in the crow’s nest braced themselves for a collision. Slowly
the ship started to turn. It looked as though they would miss it. But it was
too late. They had avoided a head-on crash, but the iceberg had struck
a glancing blow along the Titanic’s starboard bow. Several tons of ice fell
on the ship’s decks as the iceberg brushed along the side of the ship and
passed into the night. A few minutes later, the Titanic came to a stop. k k CHRONOLOGICAL
Many of the passengers didn’t know the ship had hit anything. Because it ORDER
What is the time order
was so cold, almost everyone was inside, and most people had already gone of the events that
220 to bed. Ruth Becker and her mother were awakened by the dead silence. happen after Fleet spots
They could no longer hear the soothing hum of the vibrating engines from the iceberg? Record the
below. Jack Thayer was about to step into bed when he felt himself sway events on your timeline.
ever so slightly. The engines stopped. He was startled by the sudden quiet.
Sensing trouble, Ruth’s mother looked out of the door of their second-
class cabin and asked a steward10 what had happened. He told her that
nothing was the matter, so Mrs. Becker went back to bed. But as she lay
there, she couldn’t help feeling that something was very wrong.
Jack heard running feet and voices in the hallway outside his first-class
cabin. “I hurried into my heavy overcoat and drew on my slippers. All
230 excited, but not thinking anything serious had occurred, I called in to
my father and mother that I was going up on deck to see the fun.”
On deck, Jack watched some third-class passengers playing with the l NARRATIVE
ice that had landed on the forward deck as the iceberg had brushed by. NONFICTION
In lines 218–240 the
Some people were throwing chunks at each other, while a few skidded author describes how
about playing football with pieces of ice. the passengers react
Down in the very bottom of the ship, things were very different. When after the collision.
the iceberg had struck, there had been a noise like a big gun going off in Compare and contrast
the responses of the
one of the boiler rooms. A couple of stokers11 had been immediately hit passengers and the
by a jet of icy water. The noise and the shock of cold water had sent them workers in different
240 running for safety. l areas of the ship.
Twenty minutes after the crash, things looked very bad indeed to
Captain Smith. He and the ship’s builder, Thomas Andrews, had made
a rapid tour below decks to inspect the damage. The mail room was
filling up with water, and sacks of mail were floating about. Water was
also pouring into some of the forward holds and two of the boiler rooms.

10. steward: a worker on a ship who attends to the needs of the passengers.
11. stokers: workers who tended the boilers that powered steamships.

exploring the TITANIC 109

 Captain Smith knew that the Titanic’s hull was divided into a number
of watertight compartments. She had been designed so that she could still
float if only the first four compartments were flooded, but not any more
than that. But water was pouring into the first five compartments. And
250 when the water filled them, it would spill over into the next compartment.
One by one all the remaining compartments would flood, and the ship
would eventually sink. Andrews told the captain that the ship could last
an hour, an hour and a half at the most. m m NARRATIVE
Harold Bride had just awakened in the radio room when Captain Smith NONFICTION
What conflict do the
stuck his head in the door. “Send the call for assistance,” he ordered. people aboard the
“What call should I send?” Phillips asked. ship now face?
“The regulation international call for help. Just that.” Then the captain
was gone. Phillips began to send the Morse code12 “CQD” distress call,
flashing away and joking as he did it. After all, they knew the ship was
260 unsinkable.
Five minutes later, the captain was back. “What are you sending?” he asked.
“CQD,” Phillips answered. Then Bride cut in and suggested that they
try the new SOS13 signal that was just coming into use. They began to
send out the new international call for help—it was one of the first SOS
calls ever sent out from a ship in distress.
Ruth and her family had stayed in their bunks for a good fifteen
minutes or so after the room steward had told them nothing was wrong.
But Ruth’s mother couldn’t stop worrying as she heard the sound of
running feet and shouting voices in the hallway. Poking her head out
270 of the cabin, she found a steward and asked what the matter was.
“Put on your things and come at once,” said the steward.
“Do we have time to dress?” she asked.
“No, madam. You have time for nothing. Put on your life jackets
and come up to the top deck.”
Ruth helped her mother dress the children quickly. But they only
had time to throw their coats over their nightgowns and put on their
shoes and stockings. In their rush, they forgot to put on their life jackets.
Just after midnight, Captain Smith ordered the lifeboats uncovered.
The ship’s squash court, which was thirty-two feet above the keel,14 was n MAKE INFERENCES
280 now completely flooded. Jack Thayer and his father came into the first- What can you infer
class lounge to try to find out exactly what the matter was. When Thomas about how Thomas
Andrews, the ship’s
Andrews, the ship’s builder, passed by, Mr. Thayer asked him what was
builder, might have felt
going on. He replied in a low voice that the ship had not much more than as he passed through
an hour to live. Jack and his father couldn’t believe their ears. n the passenger lounge?

12. Morse code: a system used in wireless telegraphy in which numbers and letters are represented
by sets of long and short sounds or flashes of light.
13. CQD . . . SOS: standard international distress calls used by ships at sea.
14. keel: the main timber or steel piece that extends the whole length of the bottom of a ship.

110 unit 1: plot, conflict, and setting

 This telegraph
message was sent
by Bride and Phillips
as a call for help.

Illustration © Ken Marschall from Titanic, an Illustrated History, a Hyperion/Madison Press Book.

From the bridge of the Titanic, a ship’s lights were observed not far
away, possibly the Californian’s. Captain Smith then ordered white
distress rockets fired to get the attention of the nearby ship. They burst
high in the air with a loud boom and a shower of stars. But the rockets
made no difference. The mystery ship in the distance never answered.
290 In the radio room, Bride and Phillips now knew how serious the
accident was and were feverishly sending out calls for help. A number feverishly
of ships heard and responded to their calls, but most were too far away (fCPvEr-Gsh-lC) adv. in a
way marked by intense
to come to the rescue in time. The closest ship they had been able to emotion or activity
reach was the Carpathia,15 about fifty-eight miles away. Immediately,
the Carpathia reported that she was racing full steam to the rescue.
But could she get there in time? o o SUSPENSE
Not far away, the radio operator of the Californian had gone to bed Given what you already
know about the Titanic,
for the night and turned off his radio. Several officers and crewmen on what details help create
the deck of the Californian saw rockets in the distance and reported them suspense?
300 to their captain. The captain told them to try to contact the ship with
a Morse lamp. But they received no answer to their flashed calls. No one
thought to wake up the radio operator. p p CHRONOLOGICAL
On board the Titanic, almost an hour after the crash, most of the ORDER
Record the Californian’s
passengers still did not realize the seriousness of the situation. But response on your
Captain Smith was a very worried man. He knew that the Titanic only timeline. At this point,
carried lifeboats for barely half the estimated twenty-two hundred people how might disaster still
on board. He would have to make sure his officers kept order to avoid have been minimized?
any panic among the passengers. At 12:30 Captain Smith gave the orders

15. Carpathia (kär-pAPthC-E).

exploring the TITANIC 111

 to start loading the lifeboats—women and children first. Even though
310 the Titanic was by now quite noticeably down at the bow and listing16
slightly to one side, many passengers still didn’t want to leave the huge,
brightly lit ship. The ship’s band added to a kind of party feeling as the
musicians played lively tunes.
About 12:45 the first lifeboat was lowered. It could carry sixty-five
people, but left with only twenty-eight aboard. Indeed, many of the
first boats to leave were half empty. Ruth Becker noticed that there was
no panic among the crowds of passengers milling about on the decks.
“Everything was calm, everybody was orderly.” But the night air was now
biting cold. Ruth’s mother told her to go back to their cabin to get some
320 blankets. Ruth hurried down to the cabin and came back with several
blankets in her arms. The Beckers walked toward one of the lifeboats, and
a sailor picked up Ruth’s brother and sister and placed them in the boat.
“That’s all for this boat,” he called out. “Lower away!”
“Please, those are my children!” cried Ruth’s mother. “Let me go
with them!” q q NARRATIVE
The sailor allowed Mrs. Becker to step into the lifeboat with her two NONFICTION
How does Ruth’s
children. She then called back to Ruth to get into another lifeboat. Ruth mother’s pleading
went to the next boat and asked the officer if she could get in. He said, with the sailor add
“Sure,” picked her up, and dumped her in. to the conflict?
330 Boat No. 13 was so crowded that Ruth had to stand up. Foot by foot
it was lowered down the steep side of the massive ship. The new pulleys
shrieked as the ropes passed through them, creaking under the weight
of the boat and its load of sixty-four people. After landing in the water,
Ruth’s lifeboat began to drift. Suddenly Ruth saw another lifeboat coming
down right on top of them! Fearing for their lives, the men in charge of
her boat shouted, “Stop!” to the sailors up on the deck. But the noise was
so great that nobody noticed. The second lifeboat kept coming down, so
close that they could actually touch the bottom of it. All of a sudden, one
of the men in Ruth’s boat jumped up, pulled out a knife, and cut them
340 free of their lowering ropes. Ruth’s boat pushed away from the Titanic
just as boat No. 15 hit the water inches away from them.
Below, in the third-class decks of the ship, there was much more
confusion and alarm. Most of these passengers had not yet been able
to get above decks. Some of those who did finally make it out had to
break down the barriers between third and first class. r r MAKE INFERENCES
By 1:30 the bow was well down, and people were beginning to notice Given the lifeboat
situation, what do delays
the slant of the decks. In the radio room, Bride and Phillips were still in getting above decks
desperately sending out calls for help: “We are sinking fast . . . women mean for the third-class
and children in boats. We cannot last much longer.” The radio signal passengers?

16. listing: tilting; leaning.

112 unit 1: plot, conflict, and setting

 Illustration © Ken Marschall from Titanic, an Illustrated History, a Hyperion/Madison Press Book.

350 gradually got weaker and weaker as the ship’s power faded out. Out
on the decks, most passengers now began to move toward the stern17 area,
which was slowly lifting out of the water.
By 2:05 there were still over 1,500 people left on the sinking ship. All
the lifeboats were now away, and a strange stillness took hold. People stood
quietly on the upper decks, bunching together for warmth, trying to keep
away from the side of the tilting ship.
Captain Smith now made his way to the radio room and told Harold
Bride and Jack Phillips to save themselves. “Men, you have done your full
duty,” he told them. “You can do no more. Abandon your cabin. Now it’s
360 every man for himself.” Phillips kept working the radio, hanging on until
the very last moment. Suddenly Bride heard water gurgling up the deck
outside the radio room. Phillips heard it, too, and cried, “Come on, let’s
clear out.” s NARRATIVE
Near the stern, Father Thomas Byles had heard confession and given NONFICTION
absolution18 to over one hundred passengers. Playing to the very end, the Recall the conflict you
identified on page 110.
members of the ship’s brave band finally had to put down their instruments How do the various
and try to save themselves. In desperation, some of the passengers and crew people on the ship
began to jump overboard as the water crept up the slant of the deck. s respond to the conflict?

17. stern: the rear end of the ship.

18. heard confession . . . absolution: Father Byles had conducted a Roman Catholic religious ceremony
in which a priest listens to people confess their sins and then declares them forgiven.

exploring the TITANIC 113

 Jack Thayer stood with his friend Milton Long at the railing to keep
370 away from the crowds. He had become separated from his father in
the confusion on deck. Now Jack and his friend heard muffled thuds
and explosions deep within the ship. Suddenly the Titanic began to slide
into the water. The water rushed up at them. Thayer and Long quickly
said goodbye and good luck to each other. Then they both jumped.
As he hit the water, Jack Thayer was sucked down. “The cold was
terrific. The shock of the water took the breath out of my lungs. Down
and down I went, spinning in all directions.” When he finally surfaced,
gasping for air and numbed by the water, the ship was about forty feet
away from him. His friend Milton Long was nowhere to be seen. Jack
380 would never see him again.
Jack Thayer was lucky. As he struggled in the water, his hand came
to rest on an overturned lifeboat. He grabbed hold and hung on, barely
managing to pull himself up out of the water. Harold Bride had been
washed overboard and now also clung to this same boat.
Both Jack and Harold witnessed the mighty ship’s last desperate
moments. “We could see groups of . . . people aboard, clinging in clusters
or bunches, like swarming bees; only to fall in masses, pairs, or singly,
as the great part of the ship . . . rose into the sky. . . .” said Thayer.
“I looked upwards—we were right under the three enormous propellers.
390 For an instant, I thought they were sure to come right down on top of us.
Then . . . she slid quietly away from us into the sea.”
Out in the safety of her lifeboat, Ruth Becker also witnessed the end
of the Titanic. “I could look back and see this ship, and the decks were
just lined with people looking over. Finally, as the Titanic sank faster,
the lights died out. You could just see the stern remaining in an upright
position for a couple of minutes. Then . . . it disappeared.”
Then, as Ruth recalled, “there fell upon the ear the most terrible noise
that human beings ever listened to—the cries of hundreds of people
struggling in the icy cold water, crying for help with a cry we knew could
400 not be answered.” In Thayer’s words, they became “a long continuous ghastly (gBstPlC) adj.
terrifyingly horrible
wailing chant.” Before long this ghastly wailing stopped, as the freezing
water took its toll.19 t t NARRATIVE
Jack Thayer and Harold Bride and a number of other survivors clung NONFICTION
Reread lines 385–402
to their overturned lifeboat, inches away from an icy death in the North and decide which
Atlantic. Numb from the cold and not daring to move in case the boat quotation is most
sank under their weight, they prayed and waited for help. Then, as the memorable. Why
first light of dawn crept on the horizon, a rocket was seen in the distance. do you think so?
The Carpathia had come to their rescue. 

19. took its toll: claimed passengers’ lives.

114 unit 1: plot, conflict, and setting

After Reading

Comprehension
1. Recall Why was Captain Smith given command of the Titanic?
2. Recall What kinds of accommodations did the ship have for first-class,
second-class, and third-class passengers?
3. Summarize What safety precautions did Captain Smith and other crew
members take before and after the collision?

Literary Analysis
4. Understand Chronological Order Using the timeline you made as you
read and other information in the selection, determine about how much
time passed between the ship’s hitting the iceberg and the survivors’
being rescued.
5. Make Inferences Harold Bride and Captain Smith both received iceberg
warnings before the Titanic sank. Use a graphic organizer like the one
shown to note how they reacted to the warnings and why they might
have reacted the way they did.

Iceberg Warning

Harold Bride Captain Smith

How : Why : How : Why :

6. Identify Cause and Effect Events are often related by cause and effect—
that is, one event brings about another. Referring to your timeline, note
which events caused others to happen.
7. Evaluate Narrative Nonfiction Ballard could have written
his account as a piece of informational text, presenting
just the facts of what happened the day the Titanic sank.
Instead he wrote a piece of narrative nonfiction; he added
foreshadowing and suspense, and he included the words
and experiences of people on the ship. In your opinion,
is Ballard’s telling an effective way of involving readers
in the story? Explain your answer.

Extension and Challenge

8. Readers’ Circle The sinking of the Titanic has inspired
many movies and books. In a group, discuss why this
disaster lends itself to storytelling. Find details in the
selection to support your views.

exploring the TITANIC 115

Vocabulary in Context
vocabulary practice
accommodations
Choose the letter of the word that has the same, or nearly the same,
meaning as the boldfaced word.
adjoining
1. an exciting novelty: (a) innovation, (b) discussion, (c) solution, (d) occasion
feverishly
2. working feverishly: (a) steadily, (b) carelessly, (c) frantically, (d) sickly
ghastly
3. have moderate success: (a) huge, (b) average, (c) surprising, (d) little
4. elegant accommodations: (a) clothes, (b) lodging, (c) manners, (d) jewelry indefinitely
5. a disturbing prophecy: (a) prediction, (b) crash, (c) party, (d) curse
6. to wait indefinitely: (a) patiently, (b) endlessly, (c) silently, (d) anxiously moderate

7. a ghastly accident: (a) traffic, (b) slight, (c) terrible, (d) funny novelty
8. in adjoining rooms: (a) carpeted, (b) decorated, (c) large, (d) connected
prophecy
vocabulary in writing
Use details from the selection to write a paragraph describing the Titanic.
Include three or more vocabulary words. Below is a sample beginning.

example sentence

The first-class accommodations on the Titanic were extravagant.

vocabulary strategy: analogies

An analogy presents relationships between pairs of words. To complete
an analogy, identify the relationship between the words in the first pair.
The words in the second pair should relate to each other in the same way.
• If the words in the first pair relate to each other as antonyms (words with
opposite meanings), the words in the second pair should also relate as
antonyms.
• If the words in the first pair relate to each other as synonyms (words with
the same meaning), the words in the second pair should also relate as
synonyms.
Analogies often follow the format low : high :: wild : tame. If the analogy is
read aloud, one would say, “Low is to high as wild is to tame.”

PRACTICE Choose a word from the box to complete each analogy.

1. man : woman :: boy : _____ worried stingy vocabulary
2. foolish : silly :: famous : _____ practice
girl well-known For more practice, go
3. amazed : astonished :: concerned : _____ to the Vocabulary Center
at ClassZone.com.
4. freezing : boiling :: generous : _____

116 unit 1: plot, conflict, and setting

Reading-Writing Connection
Deepen your understanding of the excerpt from Exploring the Titanic by
responding to these prompts. Then complete the Grammar and Writing
exercise.

writing prompts self-check

A. Short Response: Write a Description An effective description will . . .

How would you describe the state of mind of the • include passengers’
passengers and crew when the Titanic first set impressions of the ship
sail? Write one paragraph, describing how people • include quotations from eye-
felt that day. Include details from the selection. witnesses or newspapers

B. Extended Response: Give an Evaluation A convincing evaluation will . . .

What was your opinion of the behavior of the • make a judgment about
Titanic’s builder, captain, and crew before and whether more lives could
during the disaster? Could more lives have been have been saved
saved if responses to warnings or evacuation • give reasons and evidence
efforts had been conducted differently? Write why or why not
two or three paragraphs, giving your evaluation.

grammar and writing

USE CORRECT PRONOUN CASE People often confuse the subject and object
cases of personal pronouns. If a pronoun is functioning as a subject, then
you should use a subject pronoun, such as I, she, he, we, or they. If a pronoun
is functioning as an object, then you should use an object pronoun, such
as me, her, him, us, or them. (You and it function as both subject and
object pronouns.)

Original: Him and his crew should have been more careful.
Revised: He and his crew should have been more careful.
(The pronoun is a subject, so it should be he, not him.)

PRACTICE Choose the correct pronouns in the following sentences.

1. The crew knew about the icebergs. The captain had warned (they,
them) about the possibility of floating ice.
2. Despite everything, the crew didn’t pay attention to (he, him).
3. The radio operator was especially to blame. (Him, He) and his assistant
didn’t pass on messages to the captain.
4. (They, Them) should’ve communicated better with each other.
For more help with pronoun cases, see page R53 in the Grammar Handbook.

exploring the TITANIC 117

 Before Reading

from An American Childhood

Memoir by Annie Dillard

When do you feel most

alive ?
KEY IDEA We all have something that makes us appreciate the
wonder and excitement of life. It might be a tense basketball game,
a rocky roller-coaster ride, or the thrill of an unexpected snowstorm.
The author Annie Dillard has said that nothing makes her feel alive
like facing a tough challenge. This selection is about one of the most
exciting challenges she ever faced.

QUICKWRITE When do you feel most alive? Reflect on this question

in a journal entry. Other questions you might ask yourself are these:
When do I feel the happiest? What makes me feel great about my
life? When am I glad to be me? Explain your answers.

118
literary analysis: setting in nonfiction
In the memoir you’re about to read, Annie Dillard tells a true
Childhood Memories
story from her childhood. The setting, the time and place in
Pulitzer Prize–
which events occur, is the 1950s in suburban Pittsburgh,
winner Annie
Pennsylvania, where Dillard grew up.
Dillard frequently
As you read, look for details that help you understand
writes about
and picture where the selection takes place.
events in her life
We were standing up to our boot tops in snow on a front when she was
yard on trafficked Reynolds Street . . . growing up. Her
parents shared
Then look for ways the setting affects events.
with her and
her sisters their Annie Dillard
reading skill: recognize cause and effect favorite books and born 1945

Events are often related as cause and effect: one event music and told stories and jokes. The
brings about the other. The event that happens young Dillard, full of curiosity, spent
first is the cause; the one that follows is Cause: hours studying small pond creatures
the effect. Often an effect becomes with her microscope. But despite a
the cause of another effect, forming childhood filled with happy memories,
a chain of causes and effects. Effect/Cause: as Dillard reached her late teens, she
As you read “An American began to rebel and yearned to get
Childhood,” record causes and effects away.
in a chain like the one shown. Effect: A Fulfilling Life Dillard got her wish
Review: Make Inferences for a new adventure when she went
away to college and began to focus
on writing. Since then, she has
vocabulary in context
written essays, a memoir, poetry, and
The following words help Annie Dillard tell about her a Western novel. Dillard spends a great
exciting experience. How many of the words do you deal of time alone in the wilderness,
know? Create a chart like the one shown, and place and she frequently writes about
each word in the appropriate column. As you read the nature. One might think a nature
selection, look for definitions of words that you’ve listed writer would tend to be serious, but
in the third column. Dillard loves to laugh. She keeps an
“index of jokes” and says that “. . .
word improvise revert spherical irony has the highest place . . .” in
list perfunctorily righteous translucent literature.
redundant simultaneously
more about the author
For more on Annie Dillard, visit the
Literature Center at ClassZone.com.
Know Well Think I Know Don’t Know at All

an american childhood 119

 An American

Annie Dillard

S ome boys taught me to play football. This was fine sport. You thought
up a new strategy for every play and whispered it to the others. You
went out for a pass, fooling everyone. Best, you got to throw yourself
ANALYZE VISUALS
Why is it interesting to
see the snowballs flying
through the air but not
mightily at someone’s running legs. Either you brought him down or see who threw them?
you hit the ground flat out on your chin, with your arms empty before
you. It was all or nothing. If you hesitated in fear, you would miss and
get hurt: you would take a hard fall while the kid got away, or you would
get kicked in the face while the kid got away. But if you flung yourself
wholeheartedly at the back of his knees—if you gathered and joined body
10 and soul and pointed them diving fearlessly—then you likely wouldn’t get
hurt, and you’d stop the ball. Your fate, and your team’s score, depended
on your concentration and courage. Nothing girls did could compare
with it.
Boys welcomed me at baseball, too, for I had, through enthusiastic a CAUSE AND EFFECT
practice, what was weirdly known as a boy’s arm. In winter, in the snow, What effect does the
snow have on the
there was neither baseball nor football, so the boys and I threw snowballs children’s activities?
at passing cars. I got in trouble throwing snowballs, and have seldom Begin creating your
been happier since. a chain here.

120 unit 1: plot, conflict, and setting

 On one weekday morning after Christmas, six inches of new snow had
20 just fallen. We were standing up to our boot tops in snow on a front yard
on trafficked Reynolds Street, waiting for cars. The cars traveled Reynolds
Street slowly and evenly; they were targets all but wrapped in red ribbons,
cream puffs. We couldn’t miss.
I was seven; the boys were eight, nine, and ten. The oldest two Fahey
boys were there—Mikey and Peter—polite blond boys who lived near
me on Lloyd Street, and who already had four brothers and sisters. My
parents approved Mikey and Peter Fahey. Chickie McBride was there,
a tough kid, and Billy Paul and Mackie Kean, too, from across Reynolds,
where the boys grew up dark and furious, grew up skinny, knowing, and
30 skilled. We had all drifted from our houses that morning looking for
action, and had found it here on Reynolds Street.
It was cloudy but cold. The cars’ tires laid behind them on the snowy
street a complex trail of beige chunks like crenellated1 castle walls. I had revert (rG-vûrtP) v.
to return to a former
stepped on some earlier; they squeaked. We could have wished for more condition
traffic. When a car came, we all popped it one. In the intervals between
cars we reverted to the natural solitude of children. b b SETTING
I started making an iceball—a perfect iceball, from perfectly white How do you think the
tire tracks look on the
snow, perfectly spherical, and squeezed perfectly translucent so no snowy street? Referring
snow remained all the way through. (The Fahey boys and I considered to the footnote might
40 it unfair actually to throw an iceball at somebody, but it had been known help you visualize the
to happen.) scene.
I had just embarked on the iceball project when we heard tire chains spherical (sfîrPG-kEl) adj.
come clanking from afar. A black Buick was moving toward us down having the shape of a
the street. We all spread out, banged together some regular snowballs, sphere or round ball
took aim, and, when the Buick drew nigh, fired.
translucent
A soft snowball hit the driver’s windshield right before the driver’s face. (trBns-lLPsEnt) adj.
It made a smashed star with a hump in the middle. allowing light to pass
Often, of course, we hit our target, but this time, the only time in through
all of life, the car pulled over and stopped. Its wide black door opened;
50 a man got out of it, running. He didn’t even close the car door.
He ran after us, and we ran away from him, up the snowy Reynolds
sidewalk. At the corner, I looked back; incredibly, he was still after us.
c CAUSE AND EFFECT
He was in city clothes: a suit and tie, street shoes. Any normal adult
What happens when
would have quit, having sprung us into flight and made his point. This the children hit the
man was gaining on us. He was a thin man, all action. All of a sudden, Buick? Record the effect
we were running for our lives. c in your chain.
Wordless, we split up. We were on our turf; we could lose ourselves
in the neighborhood backyards, everyone for himself. I paused and

1. crenellated (krDnPE-lAQtGd): notched at the top.

122 unit 1: plot, conflict, and setting

 considered. Everyone had vanished except Mikey Fahey, who was just
60 rounding the corner of a yellow brick house. Poor Mikey—I trailed him.
The driver of the Buick sensibly picked the two of us to follow. The man
apparently had all day.
He chased Mikey and me around the yellow house and up a backyard
path we knew by heart: under a low tree, up a bank, through a hedge,
down some snowy steps, and across the grocery store’s delivery driveway.
We smashed through a gap in another hedge, entered a scruffy backyard,
and ran around its back porch and tight between houses to Edgerton d SETTING
Avenue; we ran across Edgerton to an alley and up our own sliding Reread lines 63–71.
In what way does the
woodpile to the Halls’ front yard; he kept coming. We ran up Lloyd children’s familiarity
70 Street and wound through mazy backyards toward the steep hilltop at with the neighborhood
Willard and Lang. d help them?
He chased us silently, block after block. He chased us silently over
picket fences, through thorny hedges, between houses, around garbage
cans, and across streets. Every time I glanced back, choking for breath,
I expected he would have quit. He must have been as breathless as we e MAKE INFERENCES
were. His jacket strained over his body. It was an immense discovery, Dillard uses the word
pounding into my hot head with every sliding, joyous step, that this joyous to describe the
difficulty of the chase.
ordinary adult evidently knew what I thought only children who trained What does this choice
at football knew: that you have to fling yourself at what you’re doing, of words suggest
80 you have to point yourself, forget yourself, aim, dive. e about her?
Mikey and I had nowhere to go, in our own neighborhood or out of
it, but away from this man who was chasing us. He impelled us forward;
we compelled him to follow our route. The air was cold; every breath tore
my throat. We kept running, block after block; we kept improvising, improvise (GmPprE-vFzQ) v.
to make up on the spur
backyard after backyard, running a frantic course and choosing it of the moment, without
simultaneously, failing always to find small places or hard places to slow preparation
him down, and discovering always, exhilarated, dismayed, that only bare
speed could save us—for he would never give up, this man—and we were simultaneously
(sFQmEl-tAPnC-Es-lC)
losing speed. adv. at the same time
90 He chased us through the backyard labyrinths of ten blocks before
he caught us by our jackets. He caught us and we all stopped. f f CAUSE AND EFFECT
We three stood staggering, half blinded, coughing, in an obscure What happens because
the children lose speed?
hilltop backyard: a man in his twenties, a boy, a girl. He had released List the effect in your
our jackets, our pursuer, our captor, our hero: he knew we weren’t going chain.
anywhere. We all played by the rules. Mikey and I unzipped our jackets.
I pulled off my sopping mittens. Our tracks multiplied in the backyard’s
new snow. We had been breaking new snow all morning. We didn’t look
at each other. I was cherishing my excitement. The man’s lower pant
legs were wet; his cuffs were full of snow, and there was a prow of snow
100 beneath them on his shoes and socks. Some trees bordered the little flat

an american childhood 123

 backyard, some messy winter trees. There was no one around: a clearing
in a grove, and we the only players.
It was a long time before he could speak. I had some difficulty at first
recalling why we were there. My lips felt swollen; I couldn’t see out of the
sides of my eyes; I kept coughing.
“You stupid kids,” he began perfunctorily. perfunctorily
We listened perfunctorily indeed, if we listened at all, for the chewing (pEr-fOngkPtE-rG-lC)
adv. in a mechanical or
out was redundant, a mere formality, and beside the point. The point unconcerned way
was that he had chased us passionately without giving up, and so he had
110 caught us. Now he came down to earth. I wanted the glory to last forever. redundant (rG-dOnPdEnt)
adj. not needed; more
than necessary

B ut how could the glory have lasted forever? We could have run
through every backyard in North America until we got to Panama.
But when he trapped us at the lip of the Panama Canal, what precisely
could he have done to prolong the drama of the chase and cap its glory?
I brooded about this for the next few years. He could only have fried
Mikey Fahey and me in boiling oil, say, or dismembered us piecemeal,
or staked us to anthills. None of which I really wanted, and none of
which any adult was likely to do, even in the spirit of fun. He could only
chew us out there in the Panamanian jungle, after months or years of righteous (rFPchEs) adj.
based on one’s sense
120 exalting pursuit. He could only begin, “You stupid kids,” and continue
of what is right
in his ordinary Pittsburgh accent with his normal righteous anger and
the usual common sense. g g MAKE INFERENCES
If in that snowy backyard the driver of the black Buick had cut off Reread lines 111–122.
Why does Dillard say
our heads, Mikey’s and mine, I would have died happy, for nothing has that the man’s response
required so much of me since as being chased all over Pittsburgh in the would have been the
middle of winter—running terrified, exhausted—by this sainted, skinny, same even if he had
furious redheaded man who wished to have a word with us. I don’t know finally caught them in
how he found his way back to his car.  Panama?

an american childhood 125

 After Reading

Comprehension
1. Recall Why did the man chase Dillard and her friend?
2. Recall What happened when he caught up with them?
3. Represent Reread the paragraph that begins at line 51 on page 122.
Using details from the paragraph, sketch the scene.

Literary Analysis
4. Recognize Cause and Effect Look over the chain you created as you read.
What was the most important effect in the story? Why?
5. Connect What do you learn about Dillard from her reaction to being
chased? Do you understand this reaction? Explain your answer.
6. Make Inferences What do you
The Man Details Inference
think the man who chased Dillard
might be like? Use details from the What work might the
selection and your own knowledge man do?
to fill out a chart like the one shown. What might he have
7. Evaluate Setting Go through the been like as a kid?
selection and find passages that What might he be
describe Dillard’s neighborhood and like now?
the weather there on the day of the
chase. Which details are especially
effective at conveying setting? Explain your answer.
8. Analyze the Ending Reread lines 111–128. Why do you think Dillard ended
the piece this way, rather than just ending at line 110? Explain what
information the last section provides and why Dillard included it.

Extension and Challenge

9. Big Question Activity Survey a small group of people to find out when
they feel most alive. Then combine your findings with those of your
classmates to create a master list of answers. What experiences thrill
people? What generalizations can you make about these experiences, on
the basis of your survey results?
10. Inquiry and Research In the first paragraph, Dillard says that when she
was growing up, nothing girls did could compare with playing football. Do
research to find out how women’s sports have changed and grown over
the last 50 years. What team sport might Dillard play if she were growing
up today? Share your findings with the class.
research links
For more on women’s sports, visit the Research Center at ClassZone.com.

126 unit 1 : plot, conflict, and setting

Vocabulary in Context
vocabulary practice
improvise
Show that you understand the vocabulary words by deciding if each
statement is true or false. perfunctorily
1. A redundant explanation is one that’s already been given. redundant
2. You can expect a spherical object to roll.
revert
3. A tightly woven wool scarf is translucent.
4. If two events occur simultaneously, they happen one after the other. righteous
5. If you clean your room perfunctorily, you do a very careful job. simultaneously
6. If I revert to telling lies, I am going back to an old habit. spherical
7. A speaker following carefully prepared notes will improvise.
8. A righteous person tends to act in a moral way. tra nslucent

vocabulary in writing
What is your opinion of the end of this selection? Write a one-paragraph
answer, using two or more vocabulary words. You could start like this.

example sentence

I was surprised at the end of the chase when the man reacted
so perfunctorily.

vocabulary strategy: suffixes that form adjectives

A suffix is a word part that appears at the end of a root or base word to form
a new word. Some suffixes, such as those in righteous and spherical, can
be added to nouns to form adjectives. If you can recognize the noun that
a suffix is attached to, you can often figure out the meaning of the adjective
formed from it. See the chart for common suffixes and their meanings.

Suffixes Meanings
-ate, -ous, -eous, -ial, -ical like; having to do with; showing

PRACTICE Identify the noun in each boldfaced word. Then define the adjective.
1. The science experiment produced a gaseous cloud.
2. Their pet dog is gentle and affectionate. vocabulary
practice
3. Many famous people write autobiographical books or articles.
For more practice, go
4. Pollution has a ruinous effect on our environment. to the Vocabulary Center
at ClassZone.com.
5. His facial features included a long, thin nose.

an american childhood 127