Derek Mahon
MCS 2011/12
Webquest
Guide
• Select ten important pieces of information about
DerekMahon
• Prepare them in a visual format for the class
After the Titanic
Think, Pair, Share
• Look at the title
• Discuss it with your partner
• What do you think the poem will be about?
Reading
• As we read the poem:
• Highlight keywords
• Choose three images you find interesting.
Bruce Ismay
• Educated and wealthy
• Owner of White Star
Line
• Write a letter to the
family of those who
died on the ship
Passeng
er
Categor
y
Children
, First
Class
Children
, Second
Class
Children
, Third
Class
Women,
First
Class
Women,
Second
Class
Women,
Third
Class
Number Percenta Percenta Number Number
Aboard ge Saved ge Lost Saved
Lost
6
83%
17%
5
1
24
100%
0%
24
0
79
34%
66%
27
52
144
97%
3%
140
4
93
86%
14%
80
13
165
46%
54%
76
89
Letter
• You have survived the sinking of the Titanic. Write a
letter to a newspaper telling of your experience
before, during and after the sinking
Antarctica
•
•
‘I am just going outside and may be some
time.’
The others nod, pretending not to know.
At the heart of the ridiculous, the sublime.
He leaves them reading and begins to climb,
Goading his ghost into the howling snow;
He is just going outside and may be some time.
The tent recedes beneath its crust of rime
And frostbite is replaced by vertigo:
At the heart of the ridiculous, the sublime.
Need we consider it some sort of crime,
This numb self-sacrifice of the weakest? No,
He is just going outside and may be some time
In fact, for ever. Solitary enzyme,
Though the night yield no glimmer there will
glow,
At the heart of the ridiculous, the sublime.
- Derek Mahon
Captain Oates(1880-1912)
“I am just going outside
and may be some time”
The Expedition
• Waking on the morning of 16 March and
recognising the need to sacrifice himself in order to
give the others a chance of survival, Scott wrote
that Oates said to them; "I am just going outside
and may be some time." Forgoing the pain and
effort of putting his boots on, he walked out of the
tent into a blizzard and −40 °F (−40 °C)
temperatures to his death. Scott also wrote in his
diary, "We knew that poor Oates was walking to his
death, but though we tried to dissuade him, we
knew it was the act of a brave man and an English
gentleman". Oates' noble sacrifice however made
no difference to the eventual outcome
Anatarctica
• Choose your favourite phrases/ words from the
poem. Write one comment saying why you like
these particular words/ phrases.
Letter
• Write a letter to the family of Captain Oates. In your
letter you should:
• Describe the situation you were in
• Explain why he made this sacrifice
• Tell his family how you and your family feel about
Captain Oates
Grandfather