“Exploring the Titanic”

1. “Exploring the Titanic” Literary Nonfiction Reading for Information

2. Objectives • Define non-fiction and describe how it is different from fiction. • Identify with specific examples facts and opinions from the text. • List events in chronological order • Use the skill of visualizing to draw descriptions from the text. • List causes and effects that explain how the Titanic ignored warnings and sank. • Write a letter to a describing your experience as a survivor on the doomed passenger liner.

3. Historical Context On April 10, 1912 the “unsinkable” luxury cruise liner Titanic, the biggest ship in the world, began its maiden voyage from England to New York. Its passengers, divided among first-class, second-class, and third-class sections of the ship, included 17-year-old Jack Thayer and 12-year-old Ruth Becker. The first three days of the voyage were smooth; on the fourth day, however, the ship collided with an iceberg, and water began pouring into a hole in the bottom half of the ship.

6. Primary and Secondary Sources • A primary source is a firsthand account of an event. For example, if you are witness to an accident then you become a primary source. • A secondary source is a description based on an account from a primary source. In “Exploring the Titanic” the writer becomes a secondary source since he did not experience the event firsthand. He is relying upon the stories from the survivors or witnesses.

7. Fact and Opinion • A fact is a statement that can be proved. At 4:30 A.M., residents were woken by an earthquake that measured 6.7 in magnitude. • An opinion offers personal feelings or beliefs. Everyone was frightened by the ground’s shaking.

8. Vocabulary in Context • Context clues will help define unfamiliar words. • Often an unknown word is restated in familiar or easier language. • Restatements may be set off by commas, dashes, or parentheses, or introduced by or. • The passengers were intrigued by the novelty of sending messages-something that captured their attention and something completely new for them.

9. Vocabulary in Context • They thought of a fitting tribute, a perfect way to honor him. • Most passengers were dazzled, or amazed, by the ship’s splendor. • The ship started to list from side to side, tilting first one way and then the other. • The crew worked feverishly, with intense nervous energy, to try to prevent disaster.