UNIT FIVE
Personal Challenges
Taking that powerful energy that you have inside of you and
putting it into something real positive or creative, or
something with love. . .
Quincy Jones
652 & 653
PART 1
With Strength and Courage
Meeting Standards
The Literature You'll Read
Robert Ballard from Exploring the Titanic literary nonfiction 658
The Dallas Morning News The Lives of La Belle newspaper article 675
Paul Annixter Last Cover short story 679
Ernesto Galarza from Barrio Boy autobiography 694
The Concepts You'll Study
Vocabulary and Reading Comprehension
Vocabulary Focus: Multiple-Meaning Words and Homonyms
Fad and Opinion
Visualizing
Writing and Language Conventions
Writing Workshop: Opinion Statement
Independent Clauses and Compound Sentences
Adverb Clauses
Literary Analysis
Literary Focus: Setting
Setting and Sources
Setting
Speaking and Listening
Film Review
Reader's Theater
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Setting in Fiction and Nonfiction
Setting . . . offers an arena for fantastic adventures, enchantments, heroic exploits, heartstopping dangers, or comfort, peace, and contentment.
—Barbara H. Baskin
What would it be like to discover the skeleton of an ancient sailor? How would it feel to sail
across the ocean in the dark, crowded belly of a ship? Can you imagine stalking a wild
animal through the woods in springtime? Writers of fiction and nonfiction alike try to
capture experiences like these by describing the setting in which they occurred. Setting
is the time and place of the action in any piece of writing.
Setting can also include details about location, historical period, time of year, weather, or
time of day. Anything in a story that helps readers picture what the writer is telling
about can be part of the setting.
---see picture
The Titanic had two grand staircases, each five stories high and covered by a glass dome The staircase shown
was named Olympic. Joseph A. Carvalho Collection.
655
Historical Period
Another aspect of setting is the historical period or era during which the action takes place.
Works of historical fiction and informative nonfiction about history are set in the past.
Much contemporary fiction— fiction written recently—is set in the present.
Short fiction usually takes place in a single time period, as do some novels. Novels, because
they are longer, may also cover years, decades, or even centuries.
YOUR TURN The passage on the right is from Immigrant Kids, an informative nonfiction
story about immigrating to America between 1880 and 1920. What details about the
setting suggest that this piece of writing takes place in the past?
SETTING IN HISTORICAL. PERIODS
Men, women, and children were packed into dark, foul-smelling compartments. They
slept in narrow bunks stacked three high. They had no showers, no lounges, and
no dining rooms.... Because the steerage conditions were crowded and
uncomfortable, passengers spent as much time as possible up on deck.
—Russell Freeman, Immigrant Kids
Source Material
Good nonfiction writers strive to retell history through vivid depictions of setting.
Sometimes authors include source material in their writing. Photographs, diagrams,
quotes, fine art, newspaper and magazine articles are used to support details in the story
being told. Use of these kinds of sources helps the reader understand what happened, to
whom, when, and under what conditions.
There are two types of sources. A primary source means the information comes from
someone's firsthand experience or observation. Diaries, autobiographies, interviews,
and letters are examples of primary sources. A secondary source is information based
on the experience of someone other than the person who wrote it. Newspaper articles,
literary nonfiction, and biographies, like the one in Unit Two about Eleanor Roosevelt,
are types of secondary sources.
YOUR TURN What do you learn from this quote from an eyewitness, or primary source,
about the setting of the night the Titanic sank? Writers also use photographs, like the
ones on pages 655 and 656, as primary sources.
FIRST HAND OBSERVATION
"It had become very much colder," [Jack Thayer] 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."
—Robert Ballard, Exploring the Titanic
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The Active Reader: Skills and Strategies
Distinguishing Fact from Opinion
Suppose your teacher says, "The years during World War II were the most difficult in
United States history." Should you record this as a fact in your notebook or should you
wait for your teacher to support her opinion with facts?
A statement of fact can be proved. An opinion is a belief or feeling a person accepts as true,
but that is not supported with proof or evidence. As you read, use the strategies on this
page to help you distinguish fact from opinion.
How to Apply the Skill
To distinguish fact from opinion, an active reader will
Clarify statements of fact as true or false
Look for words or phrases that signal opinions
Evaluate the writer's ideas and reasoning
Look for supporting evidence
Try It Now!
Read and distinguish fact from opinion in the excerpt below.
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 the 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, she had "a rudder as big as an elm tree ... propellers as
big as a windmill. Everything was on a nightmare scale."
—Robert D. Ballard, Exploring the Titanic
Here's how Erlin uses the strategies:
As I read, I identify whether something can be proved true or false. The first statement is a
fact and can be proved by verifying the date, time, and place where the Titanic was
launched. I look for words or phrases that help me recognize opinions: always, or
never and I believe, and it seems. The second sentence contains an opinion because the
word great and the phrase wonder of the sea indicate a judgment and can't be proved."
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from Exploring the Titanic
by ROBERT BALLARD
LITERARY NONFICTION
Connect to Your Life
What do you know about exploration beneath the surface of the oceans?
Build Background
Underwater exploration has expanded dramatically since the creation in the 1960s of minisubmarines called submersibles. Submersibles have mapped the ocean floors,
discovered ecosystems that exist in total darkness, and explored shipwrecks. In these
paintings, the submersible Alvin and its attached underwater robot Jason Junior explore
the wreck of the Titanic.
Focus Your Reading
LITERARY ANALYSIS SETTING AND SOURCES
The time and place in which a literary work occurs is its setting. Sources refer to the places
the writer looks for factual information about the time and place. A primary source is a
firsthand account of an event. A secondary source is a description based on an account
from a primary source.
ACTIVE READING FACT AND OPINION
A fact is a statement that can be proved. An opinion offers personal feelings or beliefs.
Fact: At 7:30 P.M., April 14, 1912, the steamer Californian warned the Titanic about
icebergs.
Opinion: The Titanic's crew should have taken those warnings more seriously.
As you read the selection, jot down examples of fact and opinion in your READER'S
NOTEBOOK.
WORDS TO KNOW Vocabulary Preview
accommodations
feverishly
novelty
toll
dazzled
indefinitely
prophecy
tribute
eerie
list
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FROM
EXPLORING THE TITANIC
BY ROBERT D. BALLARD
659
The 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 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.
The story of the Titan predicted exactly what would happen to the Titanic fourteen years
later. It was an eerie prophecy of terrible things to come.
In 1907, nearly ten years after The Wreck of the Titan was written, two men began making
plans to build a real titanic ship. At a London dinner party, as they relaxed over coffee
and cigars, J. Bruce Ismay, president of the White Star Line of passenger ships, and
Lord Pirrie, chairman of Harland & Wolff shipbuilders, discussed a plan to build three
enormous 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.
The two men certainly dreamed on a grand scale. When these floating palaces were finally
built, they were so much bigger than other ships that new docks had to be built on each
side of the Atlantic to service them. Four years after that London dinner party, the first
of these huge liners, the Olympic, safely completed her maiden voyage.2
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, she had "a rudder as big as an elm tree ... propellers as big
as a windmill. Everything was on a nightmare scale."
For the next ten months the Titanic was outfitted and carefully prepared down to the last
detail. The final size and richness of this new ship was astounding. She was 882 feet
long, almost the length of four city 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
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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 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.
The command of this great ocean liner was given to the senior captain of the White Star
Line, Captain Edward J. Smith. This proud, white-bearded man was a natural leader and
was popular with both crew members and passengers. Most important, after thirty-eight
years' service 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 family was sailing to New York to find medical
help for
---see picture
The Titanic had two grand staircases, each five stories high and covered by a glass dome. The staircase shown
was named Olympic. Joseph A. Carvaillo Collection.
661
young Richard, who had developed a serious illness in India. They had booked secondclass tickets on the Titanic.
Twelve-year-old Ruth was delighted with the ship. As she pushed her little brother about the
decks in a stroller, she was impressed with what she saw. "Everything was new. New!"
she recalled. "Our cabin was just like a hotel room, it was so big. The dining room was
beautiful—the linens, all the bright, polished silver you can imagine."
ACTIVE READER
FACT AND OPINION
Is this statement about the dining room a fact or an opinion?
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 carpets, carved wooden panels on the walls, and
marble sinks. As his parents were getting settled in their adjoining stateroom,3 Jack
decided to explore this fantastic ship.
On A Deck, he stepped into the Verandah and Palm Court and admired the white wicker
furniture and the ivy growing up the trellised walls. On the lower decks, Jack
discovered the squash court,4 the swimming pool, and the Turkish baths5 decorated like
a room in a sultan's palace. In the gymnasium, the instructor was showing passengers
the 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.
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,
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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 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.
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 about the Titanic being unsinkable.
In 1912, people were divided into social classes according to background, 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 of many nationalities hoping to make a new start in America. After
that came the second class—teachers, merchants, and professionals of moderate 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 groups were enormous. While the
wealthy brought their maids and valets6 and mountains of luggage, most members of
the crew earned such tiny salaries that it would have taken them years to save the
money for a single first-class ticket.
At noon on Wednesday, April 10, the Titanic cast off. The whistles on her huge funnels
were the biggest ever made. As she began her journey to the sea, they were heard for
miles around.
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Moving majestically down the River Test, 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 off. The enormous pull created by the Titanic moving past
her had broken the New York's ropes and was now drawing her stern toward the
Titanic. Jack Thayer watched in horror as the two ships came closer and closer. "It
looked as though there surely would be a collision," he later wrote. "Her stern could not
have been more than a yard or two from our 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 a close call at the beginning of a
maiden voyage was a very bad omen.
Jack 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 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 from the middle
of the Atlantic.
Bride picked up the iceberg message and stepped out onto the boat deck. 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 a magnificent new ship. After all, he was only twenty-two
years old and had just nine months' experience at operating a "wireless set," as a ship's
radio was then called. As he entered the bridge area, he could see one of the crewmen
standing behind the ship's wheel steering her course toward New York.
Captain Smith was on duty in the bridge, so Bride handed the message to him. "It's from the
Caronia, sir. She's reporting icebergs and pack ice ahead." The captain thanked him,
read the message, and then posted it on the bulletin board for other officers on watch to
read. On his way 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
664
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.
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 and talked together for an hour or so.
At 7:30 P.M., the radio room received three more warnings of ice about fifty miles ahead.
One of them was from the steamer Californian reporting three large icebergs. Harold
Bride took this message up to the bridge, and it was again politely received. Captain
Smith was attending the dinner party being held for him when the warning was
delivered. He never got 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 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.
In the radio room, Harold Bride was exhausted. The two operators were expected to keep
the radio working twenty-four hours a day, and Bride lay down to take a much- needed
nap. Phillips was so busy with the passenger messages that he actually brushed off the
final ice warning of the night. It was from the Californian. Trapped in a field of ice, she
had stopped for the night about nineteen miles north of the Titanic. She was so close
that the message literally blasted in Phillips's ears. Annoyed by the loud interruption, he
cut off the Californian's radio operator with the words, "Shut up, shut up. I'm busy."
ACTIVE READER
QUESTION What warning did the Californian send the Titanic?
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.
High up in the crow's nest on the forward mast, Fred Fleet had passed a quiet watch. It was
now 11:40 P.M., and he and his fellow lookout were waiting to be relieved so they
could head below, perhaps for a hot drink 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.
"What did you see?" asked the duty officer. "Iceberg right ahead," replied Fleet.
Immediately, the officer on the bridge
665
ordered the wheel turned as far as it would go. The engine room was told to reverse the
engines, while 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.
ACTIVE READER
CLARIFY Why had the Manic come to a stop?
Many of the passengers didn't know the ship had hit anything. Because it was so cold,
almost everyone was inside, and most people had already gone to bed. Ruth Becker and
her mother were awakened by the dead silence.
They could no longer hear the soothing hum of the vibrating engines from below. jack
Thayer was about to step into bed when he felt himself sway 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 steward7 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 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 ice that had landed on
the forward deck as the iceberg had brushed by. Some people were throwing chunks at
each other, while a few skidded about playing football with pieces of ice.
Down in the very bottom of the ship, things were very different. When the iceberg had
struck, there had been a noise like a big gun going off in one of the boiler rooms. A
couple of stokers8 had been immediately hit by a jet of icy water. The noise and the
shock of cold water had sent them running for safety.
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
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forward holds and two of the boiler rooms.
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 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.
Harold Bride had just awakened in the radio room when Captain Smith stuck his head in the
door. "Send the call for assistance," he ordered.
"What call should I send?" Phillips asked.
"The regulation international call for help. just that." Then the captain was gone. Phillips
began to send the Morse code "CQD" distress call, flashing away and joking as he did
it. After all, they knew the ship was 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 SOS 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 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, was now completely flooded. Jack Thayer and
his father came into the first-class lounge to try to find out exactly what the matter was.
When Thomas Andrews, the ship's builder, passed by, Mr. Thayer asked him what was
going on. He replied in a low voice that the ship had not much more than an hour to
live. Jack and his father couldn't believe their ears.
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.
In the radio room, Bride and Phillips now knew how serious the accident was and were
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feverishly sending out calls for help. A number of ships heard and responded to their
calls, but most were too far away to come to the rescue in time. The closest ship they
had been able to reach was the Carpathia, 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?
Not far away, the radio operator of the Californian had gone to bed for the night and turned
off his radio. Several officers and crewmen on the deck of the Californian saw rockets
in the distance and reported them 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.
On board the Titanic, almost an hour after the crash, most of the passengers still did not
realize the seriousness of the situation. But Captain Smith was a very worried man. He
knew that the Titanic only carried lifeboats for barely half the estimated twenty-two
hundred people on hoard. He would have to make sure his officers kept order to avoid
any panic among the passengers. At 12:30 Captain Smith gave the orders to start
loading the lifeboats—women and children first. Even though the Titanic was by now
quite noticeably down at the bow and listing 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
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!"
ACTIVE READER
CLARIFY Why aren't any men getting in the lifeboats?
The sailor allowed Mrs. Becker to step into the lifeboat with her two children. She then
called back to Ruth to get into another lifeboat. Ruth went to the next boat and asked
the officer if she could get in. He said, "Sure," picked her up, and dumped her in.
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
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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 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.
By 1:30 the bow was well down, and people were beginning to notice the slant of the decks.
In the radio room, Bride and Phillips were still desperately sending out calls for help:
"We are sinking fast ... women and children in boats.
---see picture
The last lifeboats pull away from the sinking Titanic, leaving approximately 1,500 people on hoard. Illustranon
by Ken Ma rschall, from Inside the Titanic, a Loewe/Niadison Press Book. Copyright © 1997 Ken
Marschall.
669
We cannot last much longer." The radio signal gradually got weaker and weaker as the
ship's power faded out. Out on the decks, most passengers now began to move toward
the stern 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 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."
Near the stern, Father Thomas Byles had heard confession and given absolution9 to over one
hundred passengers. Playing to the very end, the members of the ship's brave band
finally had to put down their instruments and try to save themselves. In desperation,
some of the passengers and crew began to jump overboard as the water crept up the
slant of the deck.
ACTIVE READER
FACT AND OPINION
Is this statement about the band putting down their instruments a fact or an opinion?
Jack Thayer stood with his friend Milton Long at the railing to keep 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 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
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right under the three enormous propellers. 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 car 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 not be answered." In Thayer's words, they became "a
long continuous wailing chant." Before long this ghastly wailing stopped, as the
freezing water took its toll.
Jack Thayer and Harold Bride and a number of other survivors clung to their overturned
lifeboat, inches away from an icy death in the North Atlantic. Numb from the cold and
not daring to move in case the boat sank under their weight, they prayed and waited for
help. Then, as the first light of dawn crept on the horizon, a rocket was seen in the
distance. The Carpathia had come to their rescue.
WORDS TO KNOW
toll n. the amount of loss or destruction caused by a disaster
---see picture
Aboard the Carpathia, the only surviving honeymoon couple, Mr. and Mrs. George Harder, talk to Mrs. Hays,
who lost her husband. The Illustrated London News Picture Library.
(from page 660)
1. Titanic (tī-tăn'ĭk) ... Titan (tīt'n): In Greek mythology, the Titans were a race of giants.
Titanic has come to he applied to any person or thing of great size or power.
2. maiden voyage: very first trip.
WORDS TO KNOW
eerie (îr'ē) adj. weird, especially in a frightening way
prophecy (prŏf'ĭ-sē) n. a prediction; foretelling of future events
accommodations (ə-kŏm'ə-dā'shənz) n. a room and food, especially in hotels or on ships or
trains
(from page 661)
WORDS TO KNOW
tribute (trĭb'yoot) n. an action or gift that honors a deserving individual
dazzled (dăz'əld) adj. amazed or overwhelmed by a spectacular display dazzle v
(from page 662)
3. stateroom: a private chin on a ship.
4. squash court: a walled court or room for playing squash in which a rubber ball is hit off
the walls.
5. Turkish bath: a steam bath.
(from page 663)
6. valets (vă-lāz'): gentlemen's personal servants..
WORDS TO KNOW
indefinitely (ĭn-dĕf'ə-nĭt-lē) adv. for an unlimited length of time
(from page 664)
WORDS TO KNOW
novelty (nŏv'əl-tē) n. something new, original, or unusual
(from page 666)
7. steward: a worker on a ship who attends to the needs of the passengers.
8. stokers: workers who tended the boilers that powered steamships.
(from page 668)
WORDS TO KNOW
feverishly (fē'vər-ĭsh-1ē) adv. in a highly emotional or nervous way
list (lĭst) v. to tilt; lean
(from page 670)
9. heard confession ... absolution: Father Byles has conducted a Roman Catholic religious
practice in which a priest listens to people confess their sins and then declares them
forgiven.
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THINKING through the LITERATURE
Connect to the Literature
1. What Do You Think?
What was your reaction when you finished the selection?
Comprehension Check
Why was Captain Smith given command of the Titanic?
What kinds of accommodations did the ship have for wealthy passengers?
How were the survivors of the Titanic finally rescued?
Think Critically
2. How would you describe the mood of the passengers and crew when the Titanic first set
sail for New York on April 10, 1912?
Think About
"the Unsinkable Ship"
"Everything was new. New!"
the ship's band playing for the wealthiest people in the world
3. Did Captain Smith's response to the first reports of icebergs sent to the Titanic by the
California seem appropriate? Explain.
4. What was your opinion of the behavior of the passengers and crew while the lifeboats
were being loaded? Could more lives have been saved if evacuation efforts had been
conducted differently?
5. ACTIVE READING FACT AND OPINION
Review the notes you took in your READER'S NOTEBOOK. How did Ballard's use of
fact and opinion influence your reaction to his narration of the disaster?
Extend Interpretations
6. What If? Exploring the Titanic is a piece of literary nonfiction—that is, it provides
factual information even though it reads like a piece of fiction. What if Ballard had
chosen to write informative nonfiction, providing only the facts of the disaster without
such devices as dialogue or characterization? Would the information have been more
compelling for you, or not?
Literary Analysis
SETTING AND SOURCES Robert D. Ballard brings to life the setting of the early
twentieth century by describing what was aboard the Titanic. In addition, the primary
sources create an accurate picture of the Titanic in its last moments. Ballard uses
photographs of the Titanic and quotations from eyewitness, like the following:
"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."
The secondary sources, such as paintings and a newspaper article, lend credibility to the
story. These sources also help readers follow the description of the crash and its
devastating result.
Paired Activity After you have read the story, go back, with a partner, and find specific
setting details. Look for primary and secondary sources such as photos, diagrams,
newspaper articles, or pictures that help you see or better understand the setting.
Setting Detail
"Daylight shone through the huge glass dome over the Grand Staircase." (p. 662)
"The Titanic was like a big floating layer cake." (p.663)
Primary Source
Photograph of the actual Olympic Staircase (p. 661)
Secondary Source
Cross-section diagram of the Titanic (p. 663)
672
CHOICES and CHALLENGES
Writing
Fact and Opinion Think of an event that actually happened and write a page or more of
literary nonfiction describing it. You might write about a visit to a relative, a news item,
or an everyday occurrence. Include both fact and opinion to make your writing
believable and interesting. When finished, trade papers with a classmate. In pencil,
circle the facts you find, and underline the opinions. Some other things to think about
are: What made the writing believable? What made it interesting? Was there a definite
setting? Place your work in your Working Portfolio.
Writing Handbook See p. R45: Narrative Writing.
Speaking & Listening
Film Critic Watch the video clip from A Night to Remember. After you watch, analyze the
effect the images and sound have on you as a viewer. What do you think the filmmakers
were trying to achieve? In your opinion, did they succeed? With a group, discuss why
or why not.
Research & Technology
SCIENCE
The exploration of the wreckage of the Titanic solved many mysteries about the ship's last
hours. Use library and Internet resources to find out about other sunken ships that have
been explored by archaeologists.
Reading for INFORMATION
Begin your research by reading 'The Lives of La Belle,' page 675, about a sunken ship that
is being excavated in Matagorda Bay on the Texas Gulf Coast.
Research and Technology Handbook See p. R110: Getting Information Electronically.
Vocabulary
STANDARDIZED TEST PRACTICE
Choose the word or group of words that means the same, or nearly the same, as the
underlined Word to Know.
1. Elegant accommodations
A clothes
B lodging
C manners
D accessories
2. Eerie sounds
J echoing
K deafening
L weird
M random
3. To work feverishly
A steadily
B carelessly
C frantically
D sickly
4. A disturbing prophecy
J prediction
K accident
L party
M performance
5. Dazzled spectators
A grumpy
B concerned
C desperate
D awestruck
6. To wait indefinitely
J patiently
K endlessly
L silently
M anxiously
7. A horrible toll
A loss
B collision
C explosion
D panic
8. A final tribute
J response
K honor
L triumph
M trial
9. To list to one side
A write
B slip
C show
D lean
10. An exciting novelty
J invention
K discussion
L solution
M occasion
Vocabulary Handbook See p. R26: Synonyms.
673
CHOICES and CHALLENGES
Grammar in Context: Independent Clauses and Compound Sentences
To make the relationship between ideas clear, Robert D. Ballard often expresses two closely
connected ideas in one compound sentence.
The mail room was filling up with water, and sacks of mail were floating about.
A compound sentence contains two or more independent clauses. A clause is a group of
words containing a verb and its subject. An independent clause is one that can stand by
itself as a sentence. Independent clauses can be joined to form a compound sentence by
using a comma and a coordinating conjunction (such as and, but, or or). When you
combine sentences, be sure to choose the coordinating conjunction that expresses the
correct relationship between the clauses.
They had avoided a head-on crash, but the iceberg had struck a glancing blow along
the Titanic's starboard bow.
WRITING EXERCISE Rewrite each pair of sentences as a compound sentence.
Example: Original The first-class passengers had large cabins. The third-class passengers
were packed into small ones.
Rewritten The first-class passengers had large cabins, but the third-class passengers were
packed into small ones.
1. She was 882 feet long. Her funnels were enormous.
2. Jack heard explosions inside the ship. The Titanic began to slide into the water.
3. There was no moon. The stars shone brightly.
Connect to the Literature Find two other compound sentences in Exploring the Titanic.
Why did the author link the ideas?
Grammar Handbook Seep. R84: Phrases and Clauses.
Robert D. Ballard
born 1942
"I want to recruit people to study science, just as a coach recruits basketball players."
To the Sea Robert Ballard has been fascinated by the sea since his childhood, when he
explored beaches and read about famous sailors such as Captain Cook and Admiral
Byrd. As an adult, Ballard helped pay for his education in oceanography by training
dolphins at a marine park. Eventually, he joined the staff of the Woods Hole
Oceanographic Institute in Massachusetts.
Exploring the Titanic Ballard began his search for the Titanic using remote-controlled
underwater robots. On September 1, 1985, a robotic vessel recorded the first view of the
Titanic in 73 years.
Recruiting Scientists Ballard, the explorer, has now set his sights on inspiring children to
learn. "We need to declare war on ignorance, and the only way is through education,"
he says. "I want to recruit people to study science, just as a coach recruits basketball
players." Ballard's other works include Exploring Our Living Planet, Discovery of the
Titanic, The Discovery of the Bismarck, and The Lost Wreck of the Isis.
674
Reading for INFORMATION
NEWSPAPER ARTICLE
Real World Link to Exploring the Titanic
Source: The Dallas Morning News
Living • Arts
The Lives of La Belle
SPECIAL REPORT
by Bryan Woolley
PALACIOS, Texas— He may have been C. Barange. That's the name engraved on the
pewter bowl the archaeologists found beside his skeleton in November.
Near his skeleton the archaeologists found a small wooden cask that once contained wine or
brandy, a pair of shoes, some buttons, a ring with a red gemstone setting and a leather
wallet containing two wooden combs, one to groom his hair and the other, finer toothed
one to remove lice from it.
The dead man and his tiny collection of belongings had lain in the mud since January 1686,
when the small frigate they were on sank to the bottom of Matagorda Bay, a site about
80 miles east of what later became Corpus Christi, Texas. The ship was named La Belle
and was owned by the French explorer René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle.
---see picture
The outline of La Belle's hull begins to emerge from the floor of Matagorda Bay.
Reading for Information
What does it take to start a town? Scientists are now studying what the French explorer La
Salle brought to start a colony in America—thanks to the discovery of one of his ships,
La Belle, which sank off the coast of Texas in the 17th century.
SQ3R
To read nonfiction and remember the information, use the study strategy SQ3R: Scan,
Question, Read, Recite, Review.
YOUR TURN Use SQ3R to answer the questions that follow.
1 Scan the article's text organizers. Note the title, subtitles, photos, and captions. What do
you think the article is about?
675
The Expedition
In 1682, La Salle had explored the entire length of the Mississippi River and claimed its
watershed—almost half the present United States—for King Louis XIV of France. He
then convinced the king that a colony at the southern end of the great river would
protect French lands from France's enemy, the Spanish, whose vast empire lay to the
west and south.
King Louis gave La Salle four ships. According to the journal of Henri Joutel, a lieutenant
of La Salle's who was eventually one of a handful of survivors, misfortune dogged the
expedition from its beginning. First, Spanish pirates captured one of the ships in the
Caribbean. Then, because of the primitive navigational methods of his time and even
worse maps, La Salle overshot the mouth of the Mississippi, which is near present-day
New Orleans. On February 18, 1685, he wound up in Matagorda Bay, halfway between
present-day Galveston and Corpus Christi. He thought he had arrived where he wanted
to go.
On February 29, L'Amiable, the largest of the three remaining ships, which carried many of
the supplies needed to found the colony, ran aground and broke apart. Most of the
supplies were lost. On March 12, one of the last two ships departed for France with a
message to the king that La Salle had arrived at the mouth of the Mississippi but needed
more supplies. The king received La Salle's message but rejected it, complaining that he
already had spent more on La Salle than Ferdinand and Isabella had on Columbus.
Meanwhile, back in Texas, the remaining 180 colonists were building a camp they called
Fort St. Louis, and La Salle went roaming across the countryside, looking for the
Mississippi. On March 15 of the next year, 1686, La Salle returned to learn that La
Belle, his last ship, had run aground with the remainder of the colony's supplies and
trade goods.
Realizing that he was cut off from France and that his dream of building a colony and
making a fortune in the New World was doomed, La Salle continued in his searches for
the Mississippi. He never found the river. On March 20, 1687, somewhere in East
Texas, some of La Salle's own men murdered him.
In 1688, six ragged survivors of the expedition arrived in Canada and eventually returned to
France, carrying their journals of the adventure. When they had left Fort St. Louis, only
20 of the colonists were still alive. Some of those died of smallpox. Native Americans
killed the rest, except for a few children who were taken captive. They were rescued
later by the Spanish.
676
Reading for Information continued
2 After scanning, question what you expect to find out when you read. Make a chart like the
one below to begin recording your questions. Remember, no question is too simple. For
example, you might ask, What else is La Salle known for?
Questions
What else is La Salle known for?
What is watershed?
3 Make sure you understand a passage before moving to the next one. Read this section
carefully. What is a cofferdam? You may need to consult a dictionary or reference
source. As you read the entire selection, look for answers to questions you have formed.
The Project to Raise La Bede
Archaeologists from all over the country have made their way to the big blue warehouse on
the Palacios waterfront on Matagorda Bay that serves as the project headquarters. The
ground floor houses the Texas Historical Commission field office and a makeshift lab.
There, the recovered artifacts are stabilized and prepared for shipment to Texas A&M,
where they're cleaned and preserved for eventual public display.
At 6:30 each morning, about a dozen of the warehouse residents board the Texas Historical
Commission's boat Anomaly for the hour-long ride to the cofferdam that surrounds the
wrecked ship, 15 miles from shore. The cofferdam consists of two concentric circular
walls of interlocking iron panels driven deep into the bay floor, 12 feet below the
water's surface. The space between the two walls is filled with gravel. The water has
been pumped out of the doughnut-shaped dam.
For eight hours a day, seven days a week, the archaeologists labor over the hulk on the
muddy bay floor. With great care, they lift objects from
677
the casks in which they were packed more than three centuries ago, mark their location,
label them and put them into containers for the trip to shore. About 4:30 P.M. they
board the Anomaly again, motor back to their dock, and unload the day's finds.
In the lab, Kris Taylor, one of the scientists who have been excavating La Belle, shows off
some of the rescued artifacts: navigator's dividers, used for plotting courses on charts;
buckles from clothing, some of them intricately engraved; a wooden box containing a
set of copper cauldrons, a ladle, two candlesticks, a colander, and a pot; two seals for
impressing wax images onto letters; chess and backgammon pieces; clay pipe stems; a
brass writing implement with a screw top, amazingly similar to a modern fountain pen.
Besides such personal items, the archaeologists have recovered tons of lead shot and
cannonballs and dozens of barrels and boxes still intact and neatly stacked inside the
ship's hull, full of glass beads made in Venice, bronze hewn bells, brass straight pins,
bronze finger rings, and iron ax heads, all apparently intended for trade with the Native
Americans.
"This ship is a sort of colony kit," says Dr. Jim Bruseth, the project director. "Many colonies
were established in the New World, but the stuff the people brought with them is gone.
What we have on La Belle is a good inventory of what a country in Europe felt was
important for establishing a colony in the New World. And the final pivot of LaSalle's
dream, the straw that broke the camel's hack, was the sinking of the ship which we've
found."
"People don't realize how important La Salle was," Dr. Bruseth adds. "If he had been
successful, we might be speaking French today in Texas."
Reading for Information continued
4 Recite the main ideas of the entire selection. Then write them down, using your own
words. For example, what is the main idea in this paragraph? What are the supporting
details?
Now review the whole article, checking to see how well you remembered the main ideas.
You may be curious about something not included in the article. Suppose you want to
know if the artifacts are still on display. How would you find the answer to that
question?
Research &Technology
Activity Link from Exploring the Titanic, p. 673. Research the discovery of a shipwreck
other than La Belle. Use the study strategy SQ3R to read the articles you find. Then
select one article, and write a summary of the main ideas.
678
SHORT STORY
Last Cover
by PAUL ANNIXTER
Connect to Your Life
Why do you think people develop strong ties with pets? What do pets offer their owners?
What qualities does a good pet have? With a small group, make a word web listing
them.
Build Background
SCIENCE
The red fox is the most common fox in the United States. Clever, quick, and gifted with
keen hearing and a sharp sense of smell, a red fox makes an excellent hunter.
However, foxes are often hunted for their fur, for sport, or because their raids on chicken
coops are a nuisance to farmers. In some fox hunts, like the one in this story, hunters on
horseback use dogs to follow the scent of a fox. The dogs' barking reveals the fox's
hiding place.
WORDS TO KNOW Vocabulary Preview
bleak
harried
predestined
wily
confound
invalid
sanction
essence
passive
sanctuary
Focus Your Reading
LITERARY ANALYSIS SETTING
The time and place in which a literary work occurs are called its setting. To understand
place in a story, it is important to know such things as the region of the country;
whether it is set in the city or a rural area; whether the geography is mountainous,
swampy, or dry; and what kind of people live there (farmers, office workers, and so
forth). Place is important to setting in fiction and nonfiction alike.
ACTIVE READING VISUALIZING
The process of forming a mental picture based on a written description is called visualizing.
Good readers use the details writers supply to "see" the settings in their minds. As you
read, use the details the author gives you to visualize the setting of "Last Cover."
READER'S NOTEBOOK. Make two columns in your notebook. In the first, jot down
some specific details from the story that describe setting. In the second, note the kind of
mental picture you formed in your mind after reading these details.
679
LAST COVER
by Paul Annixter
I'm not sure I can tell you what you want to know about my brother; but
everything about the pet fox is important, so I'll tell all that from the
beginning.
It goes back to a winter afternoon after I'd hunted the woods all day for a sign
of our lost pet. I remember the way my mother looked up as I came into the
kitchen. Without my speaking, she knew what had happened. For six hours
I had walked, reading signs, looking for a delicate print in the damp soil or
even a hair that might have told of a red fox passing that way—but I had
found nothing.
"Did you go up in the foothills?" Mom asked.
I nodded. My face was stiff from held-back tears. My brother, Colin, who was
going on twelve, got it all from one look at me and went into a heartbroken,
almost silent, crying.
Three weeks before, Bandit, the pet fox Colin and I had raised from a tiny kit,
had disappeared, and not even a rumor had been heard of him since.
680
---see picture
Detail Illustration by Wendell Minor, from Red Fox Running by Eve Bunting. Illustration copyright 1993
Wendell Minor. Reprinted by permission of Clarion Books/Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights
reserved.
681
"He'd have had to go off soon anyway," Morn comforted. "A big, lolloping fellow like him,
he's got to live his life same as us. But he may come back. That fox set a lot of store by
you boys in spite of his wild ways."
"He set a lot of store by our food, anyway," Father said. He sat in a chair by the kitchen
window mending a piece of harness. "We'll be seeing a lot more of that fellow, never
fear. That fox learned to pine for table scraps and young chickens. He was getting to he
an egg thief, too, and he's not likely to forget that."
"That was only pranking when he was little," Colin said desperately.
From the first, the tame fox had made tension in the family. It was Father who said we'd
better name him Bandit, after he'd made away with his first young chicken.
"Maybe you know," Father said shortly. "But when an animal turns to egg sucking, he's
usually incurable. He'd better not come pranking around my chicken run again."
It was late February, and I remember the bleak, dead cold that had set in, cold that was a
rare thing for our Carolina hills. Flocks of sparrows and snowbirds had appeared, to
peck hungrily at all that the pigs and chickens didn't eat.
"This one's a killer," Father would say of a morning, looking out at the whitened barn roof.
"This one will make the shoats1 squeal."
A fire snapped all day in our cookstove and another in the stone fireplace in the living room,
but still the farmhouse was never warm. The leafless woods were bleak and empty, and
I spoke of that to Father when I came back from my search.
"It's always a sad time in the woods when the seven sleepers are under cover," he said.
"What sleepers are they?" I asked. Father was full of woods lore.
"Why, all the animals that have got sense enough to hole up and stay hid in weather like
this. Let's see, how was it the old rhyme named them?
Surly bear and sooty bat,
Brown chuck and masked coon,
Chippy-munk and sly skunk,
And all the mouses
'Cept in men's houses.
"And man would have joined them and made it eight, Granther Yeary always said, if he'd
had a little more sense."
"I was wondering if the red fox mightn't make it eight," Mom said.
Father shook his head. "Late winter's a high time for foxes. Time when they're out deviling,
not sleeping."
My chest felt hollow. I wanted to cry like Colin over our lost fox, but at fourteen a boy
doesn't cry. Colin had squatted down on the floor and got out his small hammer and
nails to start another new frame for a new picture. Maybe then he'd make a drawing for
the frame and be able to forget his misery. It had been that way with him since he was
five.
I thought of the new dress Mom had brought home a few days before in a heavy cardboard
box. That box cover would be fine for Colin to draw on. I spoke of it, and Mom's glance
thanked me as she went to get it. She and I worried a lot about Colin. He was small for
his age, delicate and blond, his hair much lighter and softer than mine, his eyes deep
and wide and blue. He was often sick, and I knew the fear Mom had that he might be
682
predestined. I'm just ordinary, like Father. I'm the sort of stuff that can take it—tough
and strong—but Colin was always sort of special.
Mom lighted the lamp. Colin began cutting his white cardboard carefully, fitting it into his
frame. Father's sharp glance turned on him now and again.
"There goes the boy making another frame before there's a picture for it," he said. "It's too
much like cutting out a man's suit for a fellow that's, say, twelve years old. Who knows
whether he'll grow into it?"
Mom was into him then, quick. "Not a single frame of Colin's has ever gone to waste. The
boy has real talent, Sumter, and it's time you realized it."
"Of course he has," Father said. "All kids have 'em. But they get over 'em."
"It isn't the pox2 we're talking of," Mom sniffed.
"In a way it is. Ever since you started talking up Colin's art, I've had an invalid for help
around the place."
Father wasn't as hard as he made out, I knew, but he had to hold a balance against all Mom's
frothing.3 For him the thing was the land and all that pertained to it. I was following in
Father's footsteps, true to form, hut Colin threatened to break the family tradition with
his leaning toward art, with Mom "aiding and abetting4 him," as Father liked to put it.
For the past two years she had had dreams of my brother becoming a real artist and
going away to the city to study.
It wasn't that Father had no understanding of such things. I could remember, through the
years, Colin lying on his stomach in the front room making pencil sketches, and how a
good drawing would catch Father's eye halfway across the room, and how he would
sometimes gather up two or three of them to study, frowning and muttering, one hand in
his beard, while a great pride rose in Colin, and in me too. Most of Colin's drawings
were of the woods and wild things, and there Father was a master critic. He made out to
scorn what seemed to him a passive, "white-livered" interpretation of nature through
brush and pencil instead of rod and rifle.
At supper that night Colin could scarcely eat. Ever since he'd been able to walk, my brother
had had a growing love of wild things, but Bandit had been like his very own, a gift of
the woods. One afternoon a year and a half before, Father and 'Allan Small had been
running a vixen through the hills with their dogs. With the last of her strength the shefox had made for her den, not far from our house. The dogs had overtaken her and
killed her just before she reached it. When Father and Laban came up, they'd found
Colin crouched nearby, holding her cub in his arms.
Father had been for killing the cub, which was still too young to shift for itself, but Colin's
grief had brought Mom into it. We'd taken the young fox into the kitchen, all of us,
except Father, gone a bit silly over the little thing. Colin had held it in his arms and fed
it warm milk from a spoon.
"Watch out with all your soft ways," Father had warned, standing in the doorway. "You'll
make too much of him. Remember, you can't make a dog out of a fox. Half of that little
critter has to love, but the other half is a wild hunter. You boys will mean a whole lot to
him
683
while he's a kit, but there'll come a day when you won't mean a thing to him and he'll
leave you shorn."5
For two weeks after that Colin had nursed the cub, weaning it from milk to bits of meat. For
a year they were always together. The cub grew fast. It was soon following Colin and
me about the barnyard. It turned out to be a patch fox, with a saddle of darker fur across
its shoulders.
I haven't the words to tell you what the fox meant to us. It was far more wonderful owning
him than owning any dog. There was something rare and secret like the spirit of the
woods about him, and back of his calm, straw- gold eyes was the sense of a brain the
equal of a man's. The fox became Colin's whole life.
Each day, going and coming from school, Colin and I took long side trips through the
woods, looking for Bandit. Wild things' memories were short, we knew; we'd have to
find him soon, or the old bond would be broken.
Ever since I was ten, I'd been allowed to hunt with Father, so I was good at reading signs.
But, in a way, Colin knew more about the woods and wild things than Father or me.
What came to me from long observation Colin seemed to know by instinct.
It was Colin who felt out, like an Indian, the stretch of woods where Bandit had his den,
who found the first slim, small fox-print in the damp earth. And then, on an afternoon in
March, we saw him. I remember the day well, the racing clouds, the wind rattling the
tops of the pine trees and swaying the Spanish moss. Bandit had just come out of a
clump of laurel; in the maze of leaves behind him we caught a glimpse of a slim red
vixen, so we knew he had found a mate. She melted from sight like a shadow, but
Bandit turned to watch us, his mouth open, his tongue lolling as he smiled his old foxy
smile. On his thin chops, I saw a telltale chicken feather.
Colin moved silently forward, his movements so quiet and casual he seemed to he standing
still. He called Bandit's name, and the fox held his ground, drawn to us with all his
senses. For a few moments he let Cohn actually put an arm about him. It was then I
knew that he loved us still, for all of Father's warnings. He really loved us hack, with a
fierce, secret love no tame thing ever gave. But the urge of his life just then was toward
his new mate. Suddenly, he whirled about and disappeared in the laurels.
Colin looked at me with glowing eyes. "We haven't really lost him, Stan. When he gets
through with his spring sparking,6 he may come back. But we've got to show ourselves
to him a lot, so he won't forget."
"It's a go," I said.
"Promise not to say a word to Father," Colin said, and I agreed. For I knew by the chicken
feather that Bandit had been up to no good.
A week later the woods were budding, and the thickets were rustling with all manner of wild
things scurrying on the love scent. Colin managed to get a glimpse of Bandit every few
days. He couldn't get close though, for the spring running was a lot more important to a
fox than any human beings were.
Every now and then Colin got out his framed box cover and looked at it, but he never drew
anything on it; he never even picked up his pencil. I remember wondering if
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what Father had said about framing a picture before you had one had spoiled something
for him.
I was helping Father with the planting now, but Colin managed to be in the woods every
day. By degrees, he learned Bandit's range, where he drank and rested and where he
was likely to be according to the time of day. One day he told me how he had petted
Bandit again and how they had walked together a long way in the woods. All this time
we had kept his secret from Father.
As summer came on, Bandit began to live up to the prediction Father had made.
Accustomed to human beings, he moved without fear about the scattered farms of the
region, raiding barns and hen runs that other foxes wouldn't have dared go near. And he
taught his wild mate to do the same. Almost every night they got into some poultry
house, and by late June Bandit was not only killing chickens and ducks but feeding on
eggs and young chicks whenever he got the chance.
Stories of his doings came to us from many sources, for he was still easily recognized by the
dark patch on his shoulders. Many a farmer took a shot at him as he fled, and some of
them set out on his trail with dogs, but they always returned home without even sighting
him. Bandit was familiar with all the dogs in the region, and he knew a hundred tricks
to confound them. He got a reputation that year beyond that of any fox our hills had
known. His confidence grew, and he gave up wild hunting altogether and lived entirely
off the poultry farmers. By September, the hill farmers banded together to hunt him
down.
It was Father who brought home that news one night. All time-honored rules of the fox
chase were to be broken in this hunt; if the dogs couldn't bring Bandit down, he was to
be shot on sight. I was stricken and furious. I remember the misery of Colin's face in the
lamplight. Father, who took pride in all the ritual of the hunt, had refused to be a party
to such an affair, though in justice he could do nothing but sanction any sort of hunt, for
Bandit, as old Sam Wetherwax put it, had been "purely getting in the Lord's hair."
The hunt began next morning, and it was the biggest turnout our hills had known. There
were at least twenty mounted men in the party and as many dogs. Father and I were
working in the lower field as they passed along the river road. Most of the hunters
carried rifles, and they looked ugly.
Twice during the morning I went up to the house to find Colin, but he was nowhere around.
As we worked, Father and I could follow the progress of the hunt by the distant hound
music on the breeze. We could tell just where the hunters first caught sight of the fox
and where Bandit was leading the dogs during the first hour. We knew as well as if we'd
seen it how Bandit roused another fox along Turkey Branch and forced it to run for him
and how the dogs swept after it for twenty minutes before they sensed their mistake.
Noon came, and Colin had not come in to eat. After dinner Father didn't go back to the
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field. He moped about, listening to the hound talk. He didn't like what was on any more
than I did, and now and again I caught his smile of satisfaction when we heard the
broken, angry notes of the hunting horn, telling that the dogs had lost the trail or had
run another fox.
I was restless, and I went up into the hills in midafternoon. I ranged the woods for miles,
thinking all the time of Colin. Time lost all meaning for me, and the short day was
nearing an end when I heard the horn talking again, telling that the fox had put over
another trick. All day he had deviled the dogs and mocked the hunters. This new trick
and the coming night would work to save hint I was wildly glad as I moved down
toward Turkey Branch and stood listening for a time by the deep, shaded pool where for
years we boys had gone swimming, sailed boats, and dreamed summer dreams.
Suddenly, out of the corner of my eye, I saw the sharp ears and thin, pointed mask of a
fox—in the water almost beneath me. It was Bandit, craftily submerged there, all but
his head resting in the cool water of the pool and the shadow of the two big beeches that
spread above it. He must have run forty miles or more since morning. And he must have
hidden in this place before. His knowing, crafty mask blended perfectly with the
shadows and a mass of drift and branches that had collected by the bank of the pool. He
was so still that a pair of thrushes flew up from the spot as I came up, not knowing he
was there.
Bandit's bright, harried eyes were looking right at me. But I did not look at him direct. Some
woods instinct, swifter than thought, kept me from it. So he and I met as in another
world, indirectly, with feeling but without sign or greeting.
Suddenly I saw that Colin was standing almost beside me. Silently as a water snake, he had
come out of the bushes and stood there. Our eyes met, and a quick and secret smile
passed between us. It was a rare moment in which I really "met" my brother, when
something of his essence flowed into me and I knew all of him. I've never lost it since.
My eyes still turned from the fox, my heart pounding. I moved quietly away, and Colin
moved with me. We whistled softly as we went, pretending to busy ourselves along the
bank of the stream. There was magic in it, as if by will we wove a web of protection
about the fox, a ring-pass-not that none might penetrate. It was so, too, we felt, in the
brain of Bandit, and that doubled the charm. To us he was still our little pet that we had
carried about in our arms on countless summer afternoons.
Two hundred yards upstream, we stopped beside slim, fresh tracks in the mud where Bandit
had entered the branch. The tracks angled upstream. But in the water the wily creature
had turned down.
We climbed the far bank to wait, and Colin told me how Bandit's secret had been his secret
ever since an afternoon three months before,
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when he'd watched the fox swim downstream to hide in the deep pool. Today he'd
waited on the bank, feeling that Bandit, hard pressed by the dogs, might again seek the
pool for sanctuary.
We looked back once as we turned homeward. He still had not moved. We didn't know until
later that he was killed that same night by a chance hunter, as he crept out from his
hiding place.
That evening Colin worked a long time on his framed box cover that had lain about the
house untouched all summer. He kept at it all the next day too. I had never seen him
work so hard. I seemed to sense in the air the feeling he was putting into it, how he was
believing his picture into being. It was evening before he finished it. Without a word he
handed it to Father. Mom and I went and looked over his shoulder.
It was a delicate and intricate pencil drawing of the deep branch pool, and there was Bandit's
head and watching, fear-filled eyes hiding there amid the leaves and shadows, woven
craftily into the maze of twigs and branches, as if by nature's art itself. Hardly a fox
there at all, but the place where he was— or should have been. I recognized it instantly,
but Mom gave a sort of incredulous sniff
"I'll declare," she said, "it's mazy as a puzzle. It just looks like a lot of sticks and leaves to
me."
Long minutes of study passed before Father's eye picked out the picture's secret, as few
men's could have done. I laid that to Father's being a born hunter. That was a picture
that might have been done especially for him. In fact, I guess it was.
Finally he turned to Colin with his deep, slow smile. "So that's how Bandit fooled them all,"
he said. He sat holding the picture with a sort of tenderness for a long time, while we
glowed in the warmth of the shared secret. That was Colin's moment. Colin's art
stopped being a pox to Father right there. And later, when the time came for Colin to go
to art school, it was Father who was his solid backer.
WORDS TO KNOW
sanctuary (săngk'choo-ĕr'ē) n. shelter; protection
(from page 682)
1. shoats (shōts). young pig
WORDS TO KNOW
bleak (blēk) adj. harsh and dreary
(from page 683)
2. pox: chickenpox, a contagious disease causing skin eruptions.
3. frothing (frôth' ĭng): light, meaningless talking.
4. aiding and abetting: helping and encouraging.
WORDS TO KNOW
predestined (prē-dĕs'tĭnd) adj. having one's fate decided beforehand predestine v
invalid (ĭn'və-lĭd) n. a sickly or disabled person
passive (păs'ĭv) adj. inactive; lacking in energy or willpower
(from page 684)
5. shorn: cut off, like hair; forsaken.
6. spring sparking: the springtime mating period.
(from page 686)
WORDS TO KNOW
confound (kən-found') v. to bewilder; confuse
sanction (săngk'shən) v to give approval for
(from page 687)
WORDS TO KNOW
harried (hăr'ēd) adj. worried; distressed harry v
essence (ĕs'əns) n. basic nature or spirit
wily (wī'lē) adj. crafty, sly
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THINKING through the LITERATURE
Connect to the Literature
1. What Do You Think? How do you feel about the ending of the story? Share your
reaction with a partner.
Comprehension Check
Why does Father disapprove of keeping Bandit as a pet?
How does Bandit let Colin know that the fox trusts him?
What picture does Colin draw at the end?
Think Critically
2. ACTIVE READING VISUALIZING
As you read "Last Cover," how did you visualize the setting? Review the notes you took in
your READER'S NOTEBOOK and compare them with those of a partner.
3. How would you account for Colin's strong attachment to Bandit?
Think About:
Colin's first experiences with Bandit
how Colin feels about nature
how Colin relates to his family
4. Why do you think Colin leaves the framed box cover blank for the entire summer?
5. Why do you think Father doesn't participate in the hunt?
6. What do you think Stan has learned about Colin by the end of the story? What do you
think Stan has learned about himself?
7. What do you think the title of this story means?
Extend Interpretations
8. Critic's Corner According to Tai Ling Bloomfield, a seventh-grade member of the
student board, "It didn't seem fair that Bandit had to die Do you agree? Explain.
9. COMPARING TEXTS How would you compare Colin and the painter lady in "The
War of the Wall"? After you've read both stories, think about ways in which the stories
are similar, and ways in which they are different.
Literary Analysis
SETTING The time and place a story occurs are its setting. Place refers to the geographical
area, as well as to the customs, values, and beliefs of the people who live in the area.
"Last Cover" is set in the woods and hills of the western Carolinas. It is a rural area, and
all of the characters in the story live on small farms.
The place where a story is set can have an important influence on its plot and characters.
Look at how Paul Annixter's description of nature helps to describe how Stan is feeling
when Bandit is lost.
It was late February, and I remember the bleak, dead cold that had set in, cold that was a
rare thing for our Carolina hills.
FLASHBACK An interruption in the action of a story to present a scene that took place at
an earlier time is called a flashback. On page 683 there is a flashback, beginning with
the words, "One afternoon a year and a half before...." This narrates how Cohn found
Bandit. How does this flashback help you understand Colin and Stan's relationship to
Bandit throughout the rest of the story?
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CHOICES and CHALLENGES
Writing
Response to Literature People are touched by stories in different ways. Explaining what a
story means to you is called your response, or interpretation. Write a response to the
story "Last Cover." Think about things like Colin's effort to track Bandit, and how
Colin's father reacted to his art. What was their relationship like and how did it change?
Use examples from the text to help explain why you feel the way you do about the
story. Place your interpretation in your Working Portfolio.
Writing Workshop See p. 75: Basics in a Box.
Speaking & Listening
Readers Theater With a small group, rehearse a Readers Theater presentation of key
episodes from this story. Select background music that is appropriate to the mood of
each episode. Present your reading to the class. Ask the audience for feedback on your
group's delivery of the scene. How did it impact your audience? Did it represent the
story and characters the way your audience had envisioned?
Art Connection
Look at the painting Albert's Son by Andrew Wyeth on page 685. What does Wyeth want
you to think about Albert's son? What details give you clues about the boy's
personality? Does Albert's son look like your image of either Colin or Stan? Explain
your interpretation.
Research & Technology
Red Fox Facts With a small group, create a visual display of pictures of red foxes and
interesting facts about them. One member of the group might do library research.
Another might visit a zoo or interview a wildlife conservationist. A third might search
the Internet for information. A fourth might design and assemble the display.
Vocabulary
EXERCISE: SYNONYMS Write the Word to Know that is most closely related in
meaning to the underlined word or phrase in each sentence below.
1. Bandit found protection in his hiding place.
2. The boys' father did not support the idea of raising a fox as a pet.
3. Bandit proved himself to be a clever trickster.
4. The winter was cheerless and bitterly cold.
5. Colin's avoidance of chores led his father to compare him to a sick, bedridden person.
6. His mother thought that Colin might be fated, or expected, to die at an early age.
7. The fox was able to confuse the dogs during the hunt.
8. A person who was lacking in spirit and force would not have pleased Colin's father.
9. To understand Colin's true character, his father needed to understand his art.
10. The farmers were irritated by Bandit's constant attacks on their chickens.
WORDS TO KNOW
bleak
confound
essence
harried
invalid
passive
predestined
sanctuary
sanction
wily
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CHOICES and CHALLENGES
Grammar in Context: Adverb Clauses
Paul Annixter makes the sequence of events in "Last Cover" clear by using adverb clauses
that express time.
It was Father who said we'd better name him Bandit, after he'd made away with his
first young chickens.
Ever since he had been able to walk, my brother had had a growing love of wild things
An adverb clause is a group of words that modifies a verb, adjective, or adverb. A special
kind of adverb clause tells when an action occurs. These usually begin with a
conjunction such as after, as, as long as, as soon as, before, during, since, until, when,
whenever, and while.
Punctuation Tip: When the adverb clause comes at the beginning of the sentence, use a
comma.
WRITING EXERCISE Combine each pair of sentences by making one of them an adverb
clause that expresses time.
Example: Original Bandit disappeared. The trouble started.
Rewritten When Bandit disappeared, the trouble started.
1. We lost our pet fox. I wanted to cry.
2. Colin sketched pictures. Father would study two or three of them.
3. They brought the fox home. They crowded around it in the kitchen.
4. The woods were budding. Bandit found a mate.
5. Noon came. Colin had still not come in to eat.
Connect to the Literature Find another sentence with an adverb clause of time in "Last
Cover."
Grammar Handbook See p. R84: Phrases and Clauses.
Paul Annixter
1894-1985
"It was while proving up on the land that I began writing, mostly nature stories about the
animals and elements I was up against"
Early Training Paul Annixter is the pen name of Howard A. Sturtzel. He was the author of
more than 500 short stories. When he was 9, Sturtzel and his mother were left alone to
care for themselves and Sturtzel's paralyzed grandmother. To support the family,
Sturtzel sold newspapers and candy and later worked as a bellhop. When he was 16, he
traveled across the United States and Canada, living the life of a hobo. Eventually,
Sturtzel settled on a timber claim in northern Minnesota, where he lived alone for a year
and a half and began to write.
Collaboration After attending college, Sturtzel married Jane Comfort, the daughter of his
favorite writer and tutor, Will Livington Comfort. Using the pen names Paul and Jane
Annixter, Sturtzel and his wife worked together to produce more than 20 novels for
young people. "Where one may have a weakness," he said of himself and his wife, "the
other is apt to have a strength."
AUTHOR ACTIVITY
Tales of Animals Check out one of Paul Annixter's collections of stories, such as Pride of
Lions, from your library and read another of his stories. How do his descriptions of
nature compare with those you read in "Last Cover"?
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Building Vocabulary
Multiple-Meaning Words and Homonyms
Many English words have more than one meaning. Multiple-meaning words are ones that
have the same origin but that have acquired additional meanings over time based on the
original meaning.
Homonyms are words that are spelled and pronounced alike hut that are different in origin
and meaning.
Three weeks before, Bandit, the pet fox Colin and I had raised from a tiny kit, had
disappeared, and not even a rumor had been heard of him since.
—Paul Annixter, "Last Cover"
Multiple-meaning word
an animal kept as a companion
to pat or caress
Homonym
a young, furry animal
a set of implements used for a specific purpose
Strategies for Building Vocabulary
Try the following strategies when you can't tell which meaning of a word is intended.
1 Use Context Clues When you see a familiar word used in an unfamiliar way, look at the
words around it to see if they offer clues to its meaning. What do you think is the
meaning of squash in the following passage?
On the lower decks, Jack discovered the squash court, the swimming pool, and the
Turkish bath decorated like a room in a sultan's palace.
—Robert D. Ballard, Exploring the Titanic
From the context, it is unlikely that squash has anything to do with food. Because a court is
mentioned, it probably has to do with sports. Squash in this context means a game
played with a racket and a rubber ball.
2 Use a Dictionary If the familiar meaning of a word doesn't make sense and there are no
helpful context clues, try looking up the word in a dictionary. Read through the
definitions. Try each one in place of the word until you find one that makes sense. Read
the following sentence: They used the scales of the bleak to make artificial pearls.
The usual meaning of bleak does not fit this sentence. From context, you could tell that
bleak is something with scales. The dictionary shows two entries for bleak, the first
with the expected meaning of "gloomy and somber!' The second entry has the meaning
"a small European freshwater fish!' Because the words have different origins and two
separate dictionary entries, we know that bleak is a homonym.
EXERCISE Use context clues or a dictionary to find the meaning of each underlined word.
1. The boys began to pine for the fox.
2. Their father did not take part in the hunt, but he did sanction it.
3. The hunters were going to get Bandit, no matter what, and they looked ugly.
4. The fox found sanctuary in a pond.
5. The Titanic came within a yard or two of another ship.
6. There were cars in the hold.
7. The lookout on the evening watch hadn't seen anything unusual.
8. As the Titanic took on more water, it began to list.
9. The ship's stern rose before the ship sank.
10. The death toll was extremely high.
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FOR INDEPENDENT READING
from Barrio Boy
by Ernesto Galarza
My mother and I walked south on Fifth Street one morning to the corner of Q Street and
turned right. Half of the block was occupied by the Lincoln School. It was a three-story
wooden building, with two wings that gave it the shape of a double-T connected by a
central hall. It was a new building, painted yellow, with a shingled roof that was not
like the red tile of the school in Mazatlán.1 I noticed other differences, none of them
very reassuring.
We walked up the wide staircase hand in hand and through the door, which closed by itself.
A mechanical contraption screwed to the top shut it behind us quietly.
Up to this point the adventure of enrolling me in the school had been carefully rehearsed.
Mrs. Dodson had told us how to find it and we had circled it several times on our walks.
Friends in the barrio2 explained that the director was called a principal, and that it was a
lady and not a man. They assured us that there was always a person at the school who
could speak Spanish.
Exactly as we had been told, there was a sign on the door in both Spanish and English:
"Principal." We crossed the hall and entered the office of Miss Nettie Hopley.
Miss Hopley was at a roll-top desk to one side, sitting in a swivel chair that moved on
wheels. There was a sofa against the opposite
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wall, flanked by two windows and a door that opened on a small balcony. Chairs were
set around a table and framed pictures hung on the walls of a man with long white hair
and another with a sad face and a black beard.
The principal half turned in the swivel chair to look at us over the pinch glasses crossed on
the ridge of her nose. To do this she had to duck her head slightly as if she were about
to step through a low doorway.
What Miss Hopley said to us we did not know but we saw in her eyes a warm welcome and
when she took off her glasses and straightened up she smiled wholeheartedly, like Mrs.
Dodson. We were, of course, saying nothing, only catching the friendliness of her voice
and the sparkle in her eyes while she said words we did not understand. She signaled us
to the table. Almost tiptoeing across the office, I maneuvered myself to keep my mother
between me and the gringo lady. In a matter of seconds I had to decide whether she was
a possible friend or a menace. We sat down.
Then Miss Hopley did a formidable3 thing. She stood up. Had she been standing when we
entered she would have seemed tall. But rising from her chair she soared. And what she
carried up and up with her was a buxom superstructure, firm shoulders, a straight sharp
nose, full cheeks slightly molded by a curved line along the nostrils, thin lips that
moved like steel springs, and a high forehead topped by hair gathered in a bun. Miss
Hopley was
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not a giant in body but when she mobilized it to a standing position she seemed a match
for giants. I decided I liked her.
She strode to a door in the far corner of the office, opened it and called a name. A boy of
about ten years appeared in the doorway. He sat down at one end of the table. He was
brown like us, a plump kid with shiny black hair combed straight back, neat, cool, and
faintly obnoxious.
Miss Hopley joined us with a large book and some papers in her hand. She, too, sat down
and the questions and answers began by way of our interpreter. My name was Ernesto.
My mother's name was Henriqueta. My birth certificate was in San Blas. Here was my
last report card from the Escuela Municipal Nurnero 3 para Varones of Mazatlán, and
so forth. Miss Hopley put things down in the book and my mother signed a card.
As long as the questions continued, Doila Henriqueta could stay and I was secure. Now that
they were over, Miss Hopley saw her to the door, dismissed our interpreter and without
further ado took me by the hand and strode down the hall to Miss Ryan's first grade.
Miss Ryan took me to a seat at the front of the room, into which I shrank—the better to
survey her. She was, to skinny, somewhat runty me, of a withering4 height when she
patrolled the class. And when I least expected it, there she was, crouching by my desk,
her blond radiant face level with mine, her voice patiently maneuvering me over the
awful idiocies of the English language.
During the next few weeks, Miss Ryan overcame my fears of tall, energetic teachers as she
bent over my desk to help me with a word in the pre-primer. Step by step, she loosened
me and my classmates from the safe anchorage of the desks for recitations at the
blackboard and consultations at her desk. Frequently she burst into happy
announcements to the whole class. "Ito can read a sentence," and small Japanese Ito,
squint-eyed and shy, slowly read aloud while the class listened in wonder: "Come,
Skipper, come. Come and run." The Korean, Portuguese, Italian, and Polish first graders
had similar moments of glory, no less shining than mine the day I conquered
"butterfly," which I had been persistently pronouncing in standard Spanish as boo-terflee. "Children," Miss Ryan called for attention. "Ernesto has learned how to pronounce
butterfly!" And I proved it with a perfect imitation of Miss Ryan. From that celebrated
success, I was soon able to match Ito's progress as a sentence reader with "Come,
butterfly, come fly with me."
Like Ito and several other first graders who did not know English, I received private lessons
from Miss Ryan in the closet, a narrow hall off the classroom with a door at each end.
Next to one of these doors Miss Ryan placed a large chair for herself and a small one
for me. Keeping an eye on the class through the open door she read with me about
sheep in the meadow and a frightened chicken going to see the king, coaching me out of
my phonetic ruts in words like pasture, bow-wow-wow, hay, and pretty, which to my
Mexican ear and eye had so many unnecessary sounds and letters. She made me watch
her lips and then close my eyes as she repeated words 1 found hard to read. When we
came to know each other better, I tried interrupting to tell Miss Ryan how we said it in
Spanish. It didn't work. She only said "oh" and went on with pasture,
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bow-wow-wow, and pretty. It was as if in that closet we were both discovering together
the secrets of the English language and grieving together over the tragedies of Bo-Peep.
The main reason I was graduated with honors from the first grade was that I had fallen
in love with Miss Ryan. Her radiant, no-nonsense character made us either afraid not to
love her or love her so we would not be afraid, I am not sure which. It was not only that
we sensed she was with it, but also that she was with us.
Like the first grade, the rest of the Lincoln School was a sampling of the lower part of town
where many races made their home. My pals in the second grade were Kazushi, whose
parents spoke only Japanese; Matti, a skinny Italian boy; and Manuel, a fat Portuguese
who would never get into a fight but wrestled you to the ground and just sat on you.
Our assortment of nationalities included Koreans, Yugoslays, Poles, Irish, and homegrown Americans.
Miss Hopley and her teachers never let us forget why we were at Lincoln: for those who
were alien, to become good Americans; for those who were so horn, to accept the rest
of us. Off the school grounds we traded the same insults we heard from our elders. On
the
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playground we were sure to be marched up to the principal's office for calling someone
a wop, a chink, a dago, or a greaser.5 The school was not so much a melting pot as a
griddle where Miss Hopley and her helpers warmed knowledge into us and roasted
racial hatreds out of us.
At Lincoln, making us into Americans did not mean scrubbing away what made us
originally foreign. The teachers called us as our parents did, or as close as they could
pronounce our names in Spanish or Japanese. No one was ever scolded or punished for
speaking in his native tongue on the playground. Matti told the class about his mother's
down quilt, which she had made in Italy with the fine feathers of a thousand geese.
Encarnación acted out how boys learned to fish in the Philippines. I astounded the third
grade with the story of my travels on a stagecoach, which nobody else in the class had
seen except in the museum at Sutter's Fort. After a visit to the Crocker Art Gallery and
its collection of heroic paintings of the golden age of California, someone showed a silk
scroll with a Chinese painting. Miss Hopley herself had a way of expressing wonder
over these matters before a class, her eyes wide open until they popped slightly. It was
easy for me to feel that becoming a proud American, as she said we should, did not
mean feeling ashamed of being a Mexican.
1. Mazatlán (mä' sət'län'), A seaport of western Mexico on the Pacific Ocean where Galarza
had attended school.
2. barrio (bä' rē-ō): Spanish, an urban neighborhood, ewecially one where many Latinos
live.
3. formidable (fôr'mĭ-də-bəl): inspiring admiration and wonder.
4. withering (wĭth' ər-ĭng): rendering speechless.
5. wop, etc.: offensive terms for Italians, Chinese, and Mexicans.
Ernesto Galarza
1905-1984
"What brought me and my family to the United States from Mexico also brought hundreds of
thousands of others like us."
Planting and Harvesting Ernesto Galarza was born in a village in the mountains of the
state of Nayarit, Mexico. Fleeing the upheavals of the Mexican Revolution, his family
moved to Sacramento, California, where Galarza attended public school and worked
alongside his family in the fields. Galarza, while still a school boy, became concerned
about the Mexican agricultural workers' poor living conditions.
When a baby died and many people became sick from drinking polluted water, the workers
asked Ernesto, who had learned English in school, to lead a protest. After graduation
from high school Galarza continued his education, becoming the first Mexican
American to earn a Ph.D. in Economics from Columbia University.
Teaching and Writing Galarza is the author of numerous books on social and economic
topics geared toward the Mexican-American community. He became a labor organizer
and, eventually, the executive secretary of the National Farm Labor Union.
In addition, Galarza was deeply committed to the education of young people. He and his
wife, Mae, developed a bilingual education program that became a model for other
programs. The scarcity of children's literature published in Spanish led Galarza to
translate Mother Goose stories and write a series of children's stories called the
Colección Mini Libros. Barrio Boy, published in 1971, grew out of stories he told his
daughters. In 1976 Ernesto Galarza became the first Mexican American nominated for
the Nobel Prize in literature.
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Writing Workshop Opinion Statement
Stating your beliefs . . .
From Reading to Writing Do you feel strongly about certain issues or events? Perhaps you
think there should be better laws to protect wild animals like Bandit in "Last Cover." Or
you might have your own ideas about how our natural environment should be
preserved. From time to time, such issues will move you to speak out. Writing an
opinion statement gives you a chance to express a clear position and back it up with
reasons, facts, and other evidence.
For Your Portfolio
WRITING PROMPT Write an opinion statement about an issue that strongly interests you.
Purpose: To persuade or help others to understand an opinion
Audience: Your classmates and friends, members of your community
Basics in a Box
RUBRIC STANDARDS FOR WRITING
A successful opinion statement should
clearly state the issue and your opinion of it in the introduction
support your opinion with examples, facts, and statistics
use language and details appropriate for your audience
show clear reasoning
sum up your opinion in the conclusion
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Analyzing a Student Model
Andrea Martinez La Moille Middle School
Habitat Destruction
1 Dramatic statistics focus on the seriousness of the situation.
Another Option:
Use a direct quotation.
Did you know that over 140 animal species become extinct every day? It's true. In fact, in
1973 there were 109 species on the endangered list for America. As of 1999, that
number jumped to 900. Why did this number jump so much in just 26 years?
2 This sentence states the issue and the writer's position clearly.
The destruction of natural habitats by humans is one of the main causes of animal
extinction. If we don't stop taking away the homes of our nonhuman neighbors, they
will be gone.
There are a few reasons why habitats are destroyed. First, the human population has grown.
People are living longer, and more healthy children are being born. More people means
more houses and apartments. This means more space is needed. People have moved
into animal territory.
Second, people move more often than they have in the past. Different parts of the country
attract large numbers of people because of good jobs or nice weather. When a large
number of people move to the popular location, the city limits spread out, and animals'
natural habitats are destroyed. Land is often gobbled up by developers who want to
make money. Places that were peaceful are turned into huge resorts or condominium
complexes. The building process and pollution hurt the ecology of the area. All
creatures suffer as a result.
Third, many businesses use natural resources such as trees and lakes. This takes away
habitats from animals. For many years, people didn't know the damaging effects of their
actions. Now that we know how much harm we are doing, how can we let the problem
continue?
3 Within each of the first three paragraphs, the writer explains causes of the problem and
then describes the effects of each.
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4 The writer anticipates and addresses opposing viewpoint.
Some people recognize that animal extinction is a problem, but they do nothing because
they think it doesn't affect their own lives. They still have birds and squirrels in their
back yards, so what's the difference? Well, the problem affects everyone. Imagine a
future in which you can only see animals and insects in an encyclopedia. This is not the
only negative effect. When a species becomes extinct, it affects the food chain. Several
species that do damage to crops or harm other animals have increased in number
because they no longer have predators. Eventually, these kinds of changes will affect
everyone. Imagine not being able to buy fruit at the grocery store because fruit-eating
insects have damaged all the crops.
5 Conclusion provides practical steps for taking action. It also restates the problem.
Many people make the excuse that they don't need to help. They say they haven't done
anything wrong. However, if people don't work to make changes, they are adding to the
problem. People should get involved in saving the natural habitat of their environment
so that animal species can continue to survive. There are many steps that a citizen can
take, from contacting his or her senator or representative to joining a local conservation
group. If people wait for others to do the job, it will be too late.
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Writing Your Opinion Statement
1 Prewriting
Discover your opinions by listing your reactions to events in your school or community.
Write down changes that you think need to be made or things that strike you as unfair.
See the Idea Bank in the margin for more suggestions. After you have selected an
issue, follow the steps below.
Planning Your Opinion Statement
1. Explore the issue. Do you understand both sides of the issue completely? What questions
do you have about the fads?
2. Focus your opinion. Exactly how do you feel about the issue? Why do you feel that
way? What fads support your opinion?
3. Identify your audience. How much background do you need to give your audience?
What do they already feel about the issue? How might you address their opposing
views? Organize information accordingly.
4. Gather information. What additional facts and other evidence do you need to support
your opinion? Where will you find that evidence?
2 Drafting
The most important part of drafting is getting your ideas down in writing. You can revise
and polish your work later. Remember, though, that you will need to do each of the
following:
State your opinion clearly in your introduction.
Begin a new paragraph for each of your reasons and include evidence. Examples,
facts, and statistics will help you support your opinion.
Anticipate counter-arguments. Address reader concerns.
Summarize your opinion in the conclusion. Try to leave your audience with a
memorable quote, question, or statement.
Ask Your Peer Reader
How well did I explain my opinion?
Did I support my statements with adequate evidence?
Were my arguments organized in a logical and persuasive way?
IDEA Bank
1. For Your Working Portfolio
Look for ideas in the Writing sections you completed earlier.
2. No Stereotypes
Think of groups that you feel are misjudged or treated unfairly. Defend one of them in your opinion
statement
3, Good Neighbors!
Think of a way to improve your neighborhood. Promote your plan in your opinion statement.
Have a question?
See the Writing Handbook Persuasive Writing, p. R51 Elaboration, p. R41
See Language Network, Proposal, p. 454.
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3 Revising
TARGET SKILL SUPPORTING YOUR OPINION Your essay should not only express
your opinion, it should also persuade others to accept your view. Remember that simply
stating your opinion is not enough to convince people. You must provide details, facts,
and examples that strengthen your reasons. Revise with the idea of improving your
organization and explain why your reasons are better than the counterpoints.
Imagine a future in which you can only see animals and insects in an encyclopedia. This is
not the only negative effect. When a species becomes extinct, It affects the
food chant Several species that do damage to crops or harm other
animals have increased in number because they no longer have
predators.
4 Editing and Proofreading
TARGET SKILL PUNCTUATING CLAUSES To make your writing flow more
smoothly, you might combine two or more clauses into one sentence. Keep your
meaning clear by placing a comma after an introductory dependent (subordinate)
clause, as shown below.
When a large number of people move to the popular location, the city limits spread out, and
animals' natural habitats are destroyed.
5 Reflecting
FOR YOUR WORKING PORTFOLIO How did your opinion change or develop as you
wrote your opinion statement? What did you enjoy most about writing your opinion
statement? Attach your answers to your finished essay. Save your opinion statement in
your Working Portfolio.
Need revising help?
Review the Rubric, p. 699.
Consider peer reader comments.
Check Revision Guidelines, p. R35.
SPELLING From Writing
As you revise your work, look back at the words you misspelled and determine why you made the
errors you did. For additional help, refer to the strategies and generalizations in the Spelling
Handbook on page R30.
Concerned about punctuation?
See the Grammar Handbook, p. R90.
SPEAKING Opportunity
Turn your opinion statement into an oral presentation.
Publishing IDEAS
Send your opinion statement as a letter to the editor of your local newspaper.
Present your opinion statement to the class and form an action group to try to bring about a
change.
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Standardized Test Practice
Mixed Review
(1) Even though, I don't in-line skate I believe city parks should have
areas set aside for people who do. Having special areas set aside would
(2) benifit everyone who uses the parks. (3) If a person is taking a quiet stroll,
he or she doesn't want to be disturbed by (4) in-line skaters going real fast.
One false move by either person could result in one of them (5) getting hurt
bad. At the same time, in-line skating is an activity that many people
enjoy. (6) It was also healthy.
1. How is sentence 1 best written?
A. Even though I don't, in-line skate, I believe
B. Even though I don't in-line skate I, believe
C. Even though I don't in-line skate, I believe
D. Correct as is
2. What is the correct spelling in sentence 2?
A. bennefit
B. benefit
C. bennifit
D. Correct as is
3. How is item 3 best written?
A. If a person is taking a quiet stroll he or she doesn't want
B. If a person is taking, a quiet stroll, he or she doesn't want
C. If a person, is taking a quiet stroll he or she doesn't want
D. Correct as is
4. How is item 4 best written?
A. in-line skaters going really quick
B. in-line skaters going real quickly
C. in-line skaters going really fast
D. Correct as is
5. How is sentence 5 best written?
A. getting hurt badly
B. getting hurt really bad
C. getting hurt very bad
D. Correct as is
6. How is sentence 6 best written?
A. It is also healthy.
B. It would also be healthy.
C. It will also be healthy.
D. Correct as is
Review Your Skills
Use the passage and the questions that follow it to check how well you remember the language
conventions you've learned in previous grades.
Self-Assessment
Check your own answers in the Grammar Handbook
Quick Reference: Punctuation, p. R68
Spelling, p. R30
Adverbs, p. R82
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