1. Introducing the Selections
R.M.S. Titanic Historical Article A Fireman’s Story/From a Lifeboat Eyewitness Accounts
Feature Menu
Introducing the Selections
Informational Text Focus: Evaluating Primary and Secondary Sources
Writing Skills Focus: Preparing for Timed Writing

2. R.M.S. Titanic
Historical Article
What choices doomed so many people to die during the sinking of the Titanic?

3. R.M.S. Titanic Introducing the Selection
On April 10, 1912, the largest ship ever built started out on its first voyage to New York.
The Titanic never arrived at its destination.

4. R.M.S. Titanic Introducing the Selection
The ship’s builder believed she was unsinkable—a gigantic lifeboat.
What went wrong? Read “R.M.S. Titanic” to learn the truth behind the mammoth ship’s ironic fate.
[End of Section]

5. Informational Text Focus: Evaluating Primary and
R.M.S. Titanic
Informational Text Focus: Evaluating Primary and
Secondary Sources
When you research historical information, you’ll find two categories of materials:
primary sources
secondary sources

6. Informational Text Focus: Evaluating Primary and
R.M.S. Titanic
Informational Text Focus: Evaluating Primary and
Secondary Sources
A primary source is a firsthand account that has not been interpreted or edited by other writers.
Examples:
letters
interviews
speeches
eyewitness accounts

7. Informational Text Focus: Evaluating Primary and
R.M.S. Titanic
Informational Text Focus: Evaluating Primary and
Secondary Sources
A primary source has the advantage of being a firsthand account of an event.
A Fireman’s Story
by Harry Senior
I was in my bunk when I felt a bump. One
In the eyewitness accounts of “A Fireman’s Story” and “From a Lifeboat,” you learn about the sinking of the Titanic from people who were actually there.

8. Informational Text Focus: Evaluating Primary and
R.M.S. Titanic
Informational Text Focus: Evaluating Primary and
Secondary Sources
The drawback of a primary source is that it includes only one person’s viewpoint.
A primary source may be unreliable, especially if it is highly subjective, or based heavily on emotion or opinion.

9. Informational Text Focus: Evaluating Primary and
R.M.S. Titanic
Informational Text Focus: Evaluating Primary and
Secondary Sources
A secondary source is based on other sources. Information is interpreted, summarized, or retold by another writer.
Examples:
encyclopedias
textbooks
biographies
newspaper and magazine articles

10. Informational Text Focus: Evaluating Primary and
R.M.S. Titanic
Informational Text Focus: Evaluating Primary and
Secondary Sources
A secondary source, such as “R.M.S. Titanic,” often covers the topic more broadly.
Secondary sources are generally more objective, or factual. However, writers sometimes include their opinions and feelings on the topic.
R.M.S. Titanic
by Hanson W. Baldwin

11. Informational Text Focus: Evaluating Primary and
R.M.S. Titanic
Informational Text Focus: Evaluating Primary and
Secondary Sources
As you evaluate a source, decide how much you should believe—and why. Ask yourself:
How credible—or believable—is the source? How knowledgeable is the writer about the subject?
Does the writer seem to have a bias—a prejudice about the topic?
Watch for words or phrases that give a one-sided view.
Recent dates may be better for secondary sources, but primary sources may be more valuable.
When was the text written?

12. Informational Text Focus: Evaluating Primary and
R.M.S. Titanic
Informational Text Focus: Evaluating Primary and
Secondary Sources
Into Action: As you read, record objective and subjective language in a chart like the one below.
Selection
Objective Details
Subjective Details
“R.M.S. Titanic”
“Westbound steamers report bergs, growlers and field ice”
“Out of the dark she came, a vast, dim, white, monstrous shape”
[End of Section]

13. R.M.S. Titanic Writing Skills Focus
Preparing for Timed Writing
As you read the selections, you may notice differences in the accounts of the Titanic’s sinking.
Record these differences in your notebook.
[End of Section] 13

14. Vocabulary

15. R.M.S. Titanic Vocabulary
ascertain v.: determine.
corroborated v.: supported.
perfunctory adj.: done with little care or thought; indifferent.
pertinent adj.: having some association with the subject.

16. R.M.S. Titanic Vocabulary
The sentence below may help you understand how the word ascertain is used in “R.M.S. Titanic.”
The dark, frigid night made it difficult to ascertain the damage to the ship.
Why do you think it was so difficult to ascertain whether the ship was sinking at first?

17. R.M.S. Titanic Vocabulary
The extent of the damage might have been difficult to ascertain because
the shock of the impact was so slight, many didn’t know it had occurred
the large ship and late-night hours made it difficult to communicate information among the crew

18. R.M.S. Titanic Vocabulary
What might the doctor hope to ascertain from this x-ray?
She might be checking the patient’s lungs for signs of pneumonia.

19. R.M.S. Titanic
Vocabulary
Read the sentence below to help you understand how the word corroborated is used.
A survey of several sources corroborated the serious nature of the damage.
Professor Guzman corroborated the fact that I had written the research report on my own.

20. fill out important forms? confirm the study’s information?
R.M.S. Titanic
Vocabulary
Our veterinarian corroborated the new study’s findings about nutritional supplements for dogs.
Did the veterinarian
fill out important forms?
confirm the study’s information?
contradict the research?

21. What actions would you expect in a perfunctory safety drill?
R.M.S. Titanic
Vocabulary
The sentence below may help you understand how the word perfunctory is used in “R.M.S. Titanic.”
The perfunctory nature of the inspections meant that little additional information was acquired.
What actions would you expect in a perfunctory safety drill? 21

22. Dragging their flotation devices, sleepy passengers slowly lined up,
R.M.S. Titanic
Vocabulary
Dragging their flotation devices, sleepy passengers slowly lined up,
which gave the evacuation drill a perfunctory feel. 22

23. Which image shows what appears to be a perfunctory activity?
R.M.S. Titanic
Vocabulary
Which image shows what appears to be a perfunctory activity?

24. Why do you think the investigators collected only the pertinent facts?
R.M.S. Titanic
Vocabulary
The sentence below may help you understand how the word pertinent is used in “R.M.S. Titanic.”
The investigating committee collected all the pertinent facts related to the tragedy and its aftermath.
Why do you think the investigators collected only the pertinent facts? 24

25. Pertinent is another way to say . . .
R.M.S. Titanic
Vocabulary
Pertinent is another way to say . . .
relevant
applicable
related
relatable
important
significant

26. Which equipment looks as though it would be pertinent to sailing?
R.M.S. Titanic
Vocabulary
Which equipment looks as though it would be pertinent to sailing?
[End of Section]

27. The End 27

28. QuickWrite

29. The sinking of the Titanic is a famous disaster.
R.M.S. Titanic
QuickWrite
The sinking of the Titanic is a famous disaster.
Versions of the story have appeared in songs and movies—some accurate, some fictional.
Write a few sentences stating what you know— or think you know—about this event.
[End of Section]

30. Read with a Purpose

31. R.M.S. Titanic R.M.S. Titanic Read with a Purpose by Hanson W. Baldwin
Read “R.M.S. Titanic” to discover how a writer synthesizes factual reports from many sources into a single narrative about a terrible tragedy.

32. A Fireman’s Story A Fireman’s Story Read with a Purpose
As you read “A Fireman’s Story,” notice the contrast between Senior’s matter-of-fact style and the emotional events he reports.
A Fireman’s Story
by Harry Senior
I was in my bunk when I felt a bump. One 32

33. From a Lifeboat From a Lifeboat Read with a Purpose
Read “From a Lifeboat,” a moment-by-moment account of the sinking of the Titanic, to learn one survivor’s impression of the disaster.
From a Lifeboat
by Mrs. D.H. Bishop
[End of Section] 33

34. Build Background

35. R.M.S. Titanic R.M.S. Titanic Build Background by Hanson W. Baldwin
“R.M.S. Titanic” was written in 1934 about the sinking of the Titanic, which had occurred in Hanson W. Baldwin conducted extensive research, reviewing ship’s logs, interviews, and other records.
R.M.S. Titanic
by Hanson W. Baldwin 35

36. R.M.S. Titanic Build Background
Since the publication of the article, more information has been found—a 1986 underwater exploration of the wreck did not find the three-hundred-foot slash in the ship that Baldwin describes in the article.
Instead, divers saw buckled seams and separated plates in the ship’s hull. This damage, rather than a large gash, is probably what caused the ship to sink. 36

37. A Fireman’s Story/From a Lifeboat
Eyewitness Accounts
Build Background
The lifeboats of the “unsinkable” Titanic carried fewer than one-third of the approximately 2,200 people aboard; 1,517 people died.
Who survived, and why? “A Fireman’s Story” and “From a Lifeboat” are eyewitness accounts of two survivors.
[End of Section] 37