“Poetry to the Earth”…and Sea”

William Morris, Word-Weaving, WaterTribe

This arts-integrated activity explores the connections which can be made between heroic, sea-faring literature from the Anglo-Saxon Age to the present, WaterTribe’s “Hero’s Adventure” Ultimate Florida Challenge, and the William Morris-inspired “Poetry to the Earth” exhibit at Memorial Hall, Deerfield.

Education Level: High school (9-12)

Historical Period: Beginning to 1600, New Nation 1750-1800, Expansion 1800-1860, Civil War Era 1860-1880, Progressive Era 1880-1914, Two World Wars 1914-1945, Contemporary Era 1945 to present

Subjects: World History, English Language Arts, Art, US History

Summary:This arts-integrated activity links the students’ study of heroic, sea-faring literature (magmapoetry.com) with contemporary sea-farers (Rogues Gallery @WaterTribe.com) participating in an actual, heroic, sea-kayaking event, WaterTribe’s Ultimate Florida Challenge (WaterTribe.com), via the vehicle of an Anglo-Saxon Illuminated Manuscript Riddle Project based on The Exeter Book.  This illuminated manuscript project also provides students the opportunity to explore William Morris’ interest in Nordic sea-poetry and to incorporate into their manuscript motifs popularized by his Arts and Crafts Movement aesthetic. It is the first in a series.

CURRICULUM 1

1.  Students study Joseph Campbell’s “The Hero’s Adventure” from The Power of Myth, with a special emphasis on the four stages of the Monomyth—departure, initiation, illumination, and return—as this applies to individual participants in the WaterTribe Ultimate Florida Challenge, as well as to themes in sea-faring poems from the Magma Poetry and SeaBritain 2005 initiative, as well as in the epic Beowulf and in sea-faring riddles from The Exeter Book. 

 2. Students analyze the epic Beowulf, developing their understanding of the following themes and literary devices: the idea of hero, courage in the face of adversity, the transitoriness of life, sentence and solas, Boethian balance and spiritual-centeredness, the ideals of kingship, the spirit of comitatus, feast and bed imagery, perseverance, ubi sunt, and interlace patterning.  Students make correlations to similar themes and conventions applicable in the WaterTribe Ultimate Florida Challenge undertaking, the Anglo-Saxon riddles of The Exeter Book, as well as to other related sea-faring literature.

 3. Students follow the training logs and reflection journals of WaterTriber Pelican (drnickhall.com) and other WaterTribe participants in the Ultimate Florida Challenge. At the beginning of class, students write daily reflection journals, using prompts inspired from Pelican’s reflection journals  (see the Pelican’s Poop link on drnickhall.com) which incorporate literary and thematic parallels to themes in Beowulf, The Exeter Book, other related sea literature, and Joseph Campbell’s The Power of Myth. After reading and discussing their journal entries, students then read Pelican’s reflection essay and training log for further amplification of ideas and insights developing and substantiating the prompt as well as serving as a model for excellent written expression.

 4. Students will research the life of William Morris (victorianweb.org), with a particular focus on his development of the Arts and Crafts Movement, his artistic and philosophical influence on Deerfield’s Blue and White Society and the Deerfield Industries, his translation of the Icelandic Volsunga Saga, his interest in heroic Northern literature, his sea-faring ventures to Iceland, and his interest in illuminated manuscripts, which presaged his founding of the Kelmscott Press with fellow Pre-Raphaelite Edward Burne-Jones.  A field trip to the “Poetry to the Earth” exhibit at Memorial Hall, Deerfield, will reinforce the students’ understanding of William Morris’ pivotal role in the Arts and Crafts Movement.  

 5. Students will synthesize their understanding of the themes, word-weaving technique, and interlace patterning of Anglo-Saxon literature by creating an illuminated manuscript Anglo-Saxon riddle, using sea-faring vocabulary and themes discovered in literature and through communication with members of WaterTribe as they train and then compete in WaterTribe’s Ultimate Florida Challenge.  Students will enhance their understanding of interlace patterning, border designs,  and decorative motifs as they observe them in use in the art forms on display in the “Poetry to the Earth” exhibit at Memorial Hall, Deerfield

 6. Criteria for assessment of this Illuminated Manuscript Anglo-Saxon Riddle Project include the following:

 Figurative Devices:

–The riddle contains kennings, alliteration, personification, and onomatopoeia.

 Body of Riddle:

–Each line of the riddle develops a different aspect of the personified speaker.

–The riddle shows facility with words through Anglo-Saxon word-play.

–The riddle’s mood evokes the Anglo-Saxon spirit of resolution in the face of adversity.

–The riddle’s vocabulary contains words and idioms seen frequently in other Anglo-Saxon verse translations.

–The clues to the riddle are sufficiently ambiguous to make the riddle challenging yet solvable.

 Mechanics:

–Accuracy in spelling, punctuation, and capitalization are observed.

 Illuminated Manuscript:

–The treated paper effectively imitates antique vellum.

–Three or more initial words to verse lines feature Anglo-Saxon illuminated decorations.

–The student has incorporated thoroughly the Anglo-Saxon patterning of the interlace design in the illuminated decorations.

–The student has given careful attention to artistic detailing and neat lettering.

A detailed curriculum integrating English literature with elements of the Ultimate Florida Challenge has been developed by Barbara A. Furtek for students at Frontier Regional High School in Massachusetts. This award-winning program is receiving widespread acclaim because of the creative way English literature has been enlivened and connected with modern day adventures. Furthermore, it is done in a manner that is appealing to a diverse population of students.

CURRICULUM 2. Sea-Links With The Arts

To interject a sense of fun and inquisitiveness into the students’ learning as well as to heighten their awareness of all things nautical and natural that goes with the seascape of training for and competing in WaterTribe’s Ultimate Florida Challenge, Pelican (Nick Hall) suggested to the students that they create a scavenger hunt list of items for him to discover and record with a camera.  Items that are chosen for this list will reflect an object or theme referenced in maritime literature or art. With 30 weeks of training and a race spanning 1200 miles, the possibilities for new discoveries are unlimited:

This 1,200-mile race requires negotiating the often-unpredictable waters of the Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic Ocean. Over 100 miles will course through the mosquito and alligator-infested Everglades. One segment will require contestants to haul their boat and gear 40 miles around the Okefenokee Swamp in Georgia –- using human power exclusively.

The students explored the Internet, the Library Media Center’s resources, as well as their own untrammeled imaginations to compile a scavenger hunt list of flora, fauna, and sea-faring items for Pelican and his fellow WaterTribers to discover and record with their digital cameras, creating a photojournalist’s challenge within that of the sea-kayakers’ training and Ultimate Florida Challenge.  When finished, the students will be required to make connections between the recorded items and themes reflected in literature. True to their mettle, the WaterTribers welcome this search-and-discover dare, proving the wisdom of Albert von Szent-Gyorgyi’s, “A discovery is said to be an accident meeting a prepared mind.”  However, the interactive and inspirational dimension of this quest travels far beyond the focus of any PowerPoint. “The influence of a vital person vitalizes,” says Joseph Campbell, and that’s where the real illumination begins. By sharing their Campbellian spirit of following their bliss through the rigors of training, matching mind and spirit to a goal, and meeting joy in the challenge, the WaterTribers give the students a lesson in lifemanship that equals in inspiration the words of Helen Keller, “No pessimist ever discovered the secret of the stars or sailed an uncharted land, or opened a new doorway for the human spirit.”  This scavenger hunt, like the Medieval, mythical hunt for the Unicorn, is an allegory of the questing nature of the positive in the human spirit. It is also the partial fulfillment of a desire expressed by a modern day adventurer who personified the spirit of early maritime explorers. In his last recorded interview before his death, Verlen Kruger described to Pelican how he wanted to use modern technology to directly involve students in his next adventure. The task is to link as many of the images (many of which were suggested by students who are following the challenge) with their counterparts in the arts. Every effort will be made to photograph each object or concept.

Unusual T-shirt

Law enforcement officer

Turtle

Ice

Manatee

Albino of any species

Tiki torch

Egg in natural setting

Fish on line

Lighthouse

Original hat

Republican

Important sign

Diving pelican

Airplane

Crab trap

Hairdo from the 60’s.

Alligator

Lily

Lightning

Engulfing wave

Naturally attired person

Guitar being playedEel

CURRICULUM 3: Sea-faring Literature and Reflection Paper

Students are asked to read a literary work with a sea-faring motif, write a reflection paper using one of the six writing prompts which follow, and then share their foray into the world of sea-literature with their English class.  What follows are a suggested list of sea-faring titles and the six writing prompts which accompany this maritime writing project.

List of Suggested Titles from Sea-faring Literature

Titles and Authors:All Things Are Possible: The Verlen Kruger Story by Phil Peterson The Ultimate Canoe Challenge: 28,000 Miles Through North America by Verlen Kruger and Brand Frentz The Tempest by William Shakespeare The Franklin’s Tale from The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer Sea Room: An Island Life in the Hebrides by Adam Nicolson Seamanship: A Voyage Along the Wild Coasts of the British Isles by Adam Nicolson Dove by Robin Lee Graham Stowaway by Karen Hesse The Sea-Wolf by Jack London The Jeannette Expedition by A. A. Hoehling Endurance: An Epic of Polar Adventure by Frank Arthur Worsley The Brendan Voyage by Tim Severin The Voyage of the Herman by Theon Wright To the Ends of the Earth by Paul Theroux Typee  by Herman Melville Billy Budd, Sailor, and Selected Tales by Herman Melville Moby-Dick, or, The Whale by Herman Melville Redburn, His First Voyage; Being the Sailor-Boy Confessions and Reminiscences of the Son-of-a-Gentleman, in the Merchant Services by Herman Melville Ulysses Found by Ernie Bradford Kon-Tiki: Across the Pacific by Raft by Thor Heyerdahl Shadow Divers by Robert Kurson Sea of Glory by Nathaniel Philbrick Columbus and the World Around Him by Milton Meltzer Maiden Voyage by Tania Aebi Amistad by Alexs Pate The Swiss Family Robinson by Johann Wyss Under Pressure: The Final Voyage of Submarine S-Five by A. J. Hill In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex by Nathaniel Philbrick Endurance: Shackleton’s Incredible Voyage by Alfred Lansing Raise the Titanic! By Clive Cussler Star of the Sea by Joseph O’Connor The Bounty Trilogy by Charles Nordhoff and James Norman Hall ‘Twixt Land and Sea: Tales by Joseph Conrad The Ulysses Voyage: Sailing from Troy to Ithaca by Tim Severin The Perfect Storm: A True Story of Men Against the Sea by Sebastian Junger Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O’Dell The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway The Young Man and the Sea by Rodman Philbrick Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson Twenty-Thousand Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne Shipwreck: A Saga of Sea Tragedy and Sunken Treasure by Dave Horner Pandora’s Last Voyage by Geoffrey Rawson Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson The Odyssey by Homer, translated by Samuel Butler  Horatio Hornblower by C. S. Forester  Pitcairn’s Island by Charles Nordhoff and James Norman Hall Men Against the Sea by Charles Nordhoff and James Norman Hall The Voyage of the Narwhal by Andrea Barrett Tristan and Iseult, translated by James Bedier   The Oxford Book of Sea Stories, Tony Tanner, editor

Writing Prompts: Choose one from the following six writing prompts as a springboard from which to develop your ideas for your sea-faring reflection paper. 

1. You belong to a WaterTribe Book Club, which meets on a regular basis.  At this book club meeting, it’s your turn to be presenter of a book you’ve just read.  Begin by giving an introduction to the book, i.e. central characters, main themes, and pivotal moments in the book.  Then proceed to tell the “Kindred Spirits” (i.e. members of WaterTribe) what qualities this book has to recommend itself.  You must give specific reasons, backed up with examples from the book, to support your statements. 

2. What sea-faring insights has this book given you that would be of sea-faring interest to the Ultimate Florida Challenge WaterTribe participants?  What insights have they given you that expand your understanding of this sea-faring book?

3. Write a scenario of a conversation held between two main characters of your book, a WaterTribe member from Rogues Gallery (see the Rogues Gallery link on www.watertribe.com), and yourself.  This script should involve a discussion of major themes, characterization, and insights developed in your book.  An alternative cast for this scenario could include the author of your book, one major character, a person from WaterTribe’s Rogues Gallery, and yourself.  

4. In what ways does your book underscore insights developed in the essays in Pelican’s Poop (see the Pelican’s Poop link on www.drnickhall.com)? In “putting a mirror up to nature,” how has this book given you an understanding of the rigors and joy of the sea-faring life and its challenges?  How does the sea become a character in its own right?  How is man’s relationship with the sea developed in this book?  You’ve been hired as casting director for a film to made based upon the sea-faring book you have just read.  Which actors past or present would you cast for the roles of two to three main characters in your book?  Why would these actors be appropriate for these roles?  What particular character traits would you emphasize?  Explain.  Substantiate your casting decisions with specifics from the book.

5. Two main characters from your book, a WaterTribe member from Rogues Gallery see the Rogues Gallery link on www.watertribe.com), and yourself are dining at a restaurant.  Select an appropriate restaurant to fit the atmosphere and setting of your book.  Lady Fortune cookies are passed out at the end of your meal.  Identify each of your fortunes and how each interrelates with the theme or plot of your book.  Explain the appropriateness of the fortune for each person.  Don’t forget to include your own!

6. Bob Dylan writes, “He not busy being born, is busy dying” in the lyrics to “It’s Alright, Ma, I’m Only Bleeding” from Bringing It All Back Home.  Discuss the theme of transformation of consciousness in the book you read by selecting one character from your book to take through the four stages of the Monomyth—departure, initiation, illumination, and return.  What new insights has he/she gained?  In what ways has your character been transformed by his/her sea-faring experience? 

Focus your ideas.  Be as specific as possible, substantiating your statements with examples, key quotations, and specific references from the literary work you chose to read for this reflection paper.  Proofread for grammar and coherence.  Clarity of expression and substantiation with specifics are vital for a well-written paper.  Spend me time thinking about the writing prompt you choose, brainstorming ways to develop, support, and organize your ideas.  Enjoy the challenge!  May your muse be with you.

Length: The minimum length for this reflection paper is two and one-half pages typed, using one inch margins on all four sides, size 12 type, and double-spacing.  You may exceed the minimum length. 

MLA Documentation:  Please follow MLA format for internal citations, Works Cited page, and pagination.
                         

CURRICULUM 4: Sparking the Viking Spirit

This arts-integrated activity is designed to help students deepen their understanding of the Viking spirit in Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s ballad The Skeleton in Armor (1841), its concomitant thematic connection to Pre-Raphaelite artist Edward Burne-Jones’ stained glass artwork The Viking Ship, its contextual connection to the Viking Tower in Newport, Rhode Island, and its correspondence to the questing spirit of WaterTribe.  Having studied the verbal interlace patterning design in Beowulf and the visual interlace patterning design in artifacts from the British Museum’s exhibit The Treasures of Sutton Hoo, students will continue to make nonlinear, interlaced connections between the art, literature, and culture of the Anglo-Saxons and their thematic influence on the art, literature, and culture of today.

Teaching Plan

1. Students will research the life of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, particularly as it relates to his interest in Nordic sagas and ballads, as revealed in “The Skeleton in Armor”  and to its connection with the Viking Tower in Newport, RI.  Then students will be assigned parts and will perform a dramatic reading of Longfellow’s “The Skeleton in Armor” (1841). Students will discuss Longfellow’s fictive method in this ballad.

2. Through a close analysis of “The Skeleton in Armor,” students will discuss its use of dream vision, symbolism, juxtaposition, feast and bed imagery, central bird motifs, Anglo-Saxon parallels, and the ubi sunt theme.

3. In preparation for “The Skeleton in Armor”-related field trip to Newport’s The Viking Tower and Vinland (now McAuley Hall at Salve Regina), students will research William Morris, Edward Burne-Jones, and Walter Crane’s Arts and Crafts interior design of Vinland, Catherine Lorillard Wolfe’s Newport home. Students will learn that both Vinland’s design and “The Skeleton in Armor’s” plot were inspired by the same Nordic legend.

4. Students will view a slide show of Newport’s Vinland and of The Viking Tower, discussing the interrelated connections which can be made to the symbolism and plot of “The Skeleton in Armor” and to motifs in art, particularly those in Edward Burne-Jones’ “The Viking Ship,” a stained glass which was commissioned for the study at Vinland and based on the legend recreated in Longfellow’s ballad “The Skeleton in Armor.”  This Pre-Raphaelite stained glass is on exhibit at the Delaware Art Museum in Wilmington, Delaware.

5. Students will write an arts-integrated paper analyzing the effectiveness of Edward Burne-Jones’ “The Viking Ship” in reflecting the mood, symbolism, and theme of Longfellow’s “The Skeleton in Armor.” 

6. Students will write an arts-integrated paper relating the Viking’s questing spirit of adventure as depicted in Edward-Burne Jones’ The Viking Ship to the Campbellian questing spirit of WaterTribe’s Ultimate Florida Challenge. Pictures taken by WaterTribers during their training and participation in the Ultimate Florida Challenge  will be used to develop and illustrate sea-faring themes and motifs in this paper.     

rpo.library.utoronto.ca/poem/1343.html
http://www.delart.org/damdocent/prbburnejones.html
http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ancient/vikings/
http://www.jamestown-ri.info/VisitingNewport.html
www.burrows.com/founders/vinland
www.watertribe.com
http://www.drnickhall.com/

http://www.library.utoronto.ca/utel/rp/poems/lonfe2.html

CURRICULUM 5:Titanic Group Projects

Using the information gained from reading A Night to Remember by Walter Lord, the “Titanic Trivial Pursuit” worksheet, the documentary videos and Titanic Historical Society-related materials viewed in class, and WaterTribe-related sources, plunge into research on your approved topic.  Students may work in pairs or trios on this group project.  This project is course-required and is test-graded on three required components.

These three components are listed below:

1. Typed group research paper using MLA documentation (one per group).

Minimum length of the body of your research paper: 8 typed pages with 1 inch margins on all four sides, double-spaced with a print size of 12.  Your MLA documentation must include both internal citations and a Works Cited at the end of your paper.  Following MLA format, please type the last names of your 2-3 project group members and the page number in the upper right-hand corner of each page of your research paper, including the Works Cited.  Include a typed title page, centering your project title in the middle of the title page.  In the lower right-hand corner of the title page, type the first and last names of your 2-3 project group members (on the first line), English 1 and block (on the second line), and date due (on the third line).  Neither the title page nor the Works Cited is included in the 8 typed pages minimum length of your research paper.

2. Three-sided informational triptych [with the typed first and last names of the 2-3 project group members (first line), English 1 and block (second line), and date due (third line) on the front, lower right-hand corner of your triptych].  Please keep the design of your triptych historically accurate to the 1912 era.  Matte your pictures, and include typed and matted captions under each of your pictures.

3. Oral presentation. The minimum length of each student’s oral presentation is four minutes per person for a minimum total of 8 to 12 minutes per group.  This minimum length of oral presentation time refers to each student’s speaking time, not the time that it takes to play a record, for example.  You may want to use posters, pictures, audiovisual aids, CD’s, video clips, handouts, and/or PowerPoint in addition to your required triptych to add clarification to your topic. Please proofread carefully for grammar any handouts that you may want to distribute to the class. You will need to make arrangements far in advance for any audiovisual equipment and/or materials that you will want to borrow from Frontier’s Library Media Center. If you will be using any audiovisual aids, please cue them ahead of time; if you will be using PowerPoint, please check prior to your presentation that all necessary equipment is in working order.  Since you will have spent a great deal of time researching and working on your project, by presentation time, you should consider yourself an authority on the details of your selected project topic. Therefore, in your oral presentation, you will be sharing with the class the synthesis of your research, and you will be able to discuss articulately and knowledgeably your subject area without the use of notes of any kind (including not reading from the captions of your triptych or from any other type of printed material).  On the day of your presentation, you may want to “dress the part circa 1912.”  For professional stance, you are to dress professionally for your presentation (i.e. ties, sports coats or sweaters, dress slacks for the young men; suits, dresses, or dress slacks for the young ladies.)  All projects are due on the due date for full credit.  A list of the order in which groups will present will be given to you one week in advance of your presentations.

Please note:  So that a wide-range of information on the Titanic may be shared, there will be no duplication of topics to be presented.  Please fill out the topic choice sheet with your top five topic choices prioritized (i.e., list your first choice first, second choice second, third choice third, etc.).  You will have one week in which to complete this topic choice sheet.  We will determine final topics on the due date of this choice sheet.  Students whose first choice is not vied for will get their first choice.  If two or more groups want the same first choice topic, they may negotiate, concede the first choice topic in favor of their second choice, or use a lottery to decide which group gets that first choice topic. Your topic sheet needs to be fully completed and in on the due date so that this topic choice selection process runs smoothly and equitably.

Titanic Group Project Topics

1.      Discuss the insights gained through reading the training notes and PelicanPoop essays on www.drnickhall.com and follow Chief and other members of WaterTribe’s threads and websites on www.watertribe.com regarding their training, preparations, and undertaking of the Ultimate Florida Challenge 2006 and the Everglades Challenge 2006.  Contrast WaterTribe’s attention to detail in terms of preparedness to the Titanic’s lack thereof.  Research how the Titanic disaster could have been prevented. How have maritime safety requirements changed due to the lessons learned from the Titanic disaster?  Discuss the Titanic in terms of “Coulda, woulda, shoulda” versus WaterTribe’s Ultimate Florida Challenge 2006 and Everglades Challenge 2006 in terms of “Be Prepared.”

2.      Research William Morris and the Arts and Crafts Movement.  Include in your research Morris and Company’s designs for the first class suites on the Titanic. In addition, research how his impact on the Arts and Crafts Movement influenced the designs of the Deerfield Industries and the Blue and White Society in Deerfield, MA, as seen in the permanent exhibit “Poetry to the Earth” at Memorial Hall.

3.      Assume the persona of a first class passenger on the passenger list of the Titanic.  Create a travel journal or scrapbook of memorabilia which captures what it was like to travel on this magnificent “floating palace.”  Include in your travel journal or scrapbook a copy of a first class menu, ticket stubs to concerts you attended, designs or pictures of clothes you wore, notes from people you met, copies of postcards you sent from Cherbourg or Queenstown, Marconi telegrams you posted, luggage tags, Turkish bath tickets, photographs of family and friends, journal entries, White Star Line insignia souvenirs, autographs of famous people on board, White Star Line tickets, and other travelogue memorabilia.  Include information on the disaster itself and your correspondence with survivors.

4.      Interview Ed Kamuda, president of the Titanic Historical Society, and/or his sister, Barbara Kamuda.  Ed Kamuda owns Henry’s Jewelry Store in Indian Orchard, MA, which houses the Titanic Museum.

5.      Research local, national, and international newspaper coverage of the Titanic disaster.  What observations can you make about accuracy and emphasis in Titanic reportage?  What conclusions can you draw from this? Microfiche from area colleges, universities, and local newspaper companies as well as the Internet will be valuable sources for this topic.

6.      Research the life and death of Milton Long, a Springfield, MA, resident, who perished on the Titanic.

7.      Create an interactive time-line or PowerPoint presentation of the Gilded Age, a term first coined by Mark Twain.

8.      Research the White Star Line. Include pictures and information on White Star liners, and trace the White Star Line’s  rise and fall. Locate White Star Line cruise advertisements in newspapers and magazines, circa 1912 as well as former White Star Line office buildings still standing in major cities. Frontier’s Library Media Center has copies of vintage Springfield Union/Republican newspapers, which can be used in your research.

9.       Research 1912 fashion and clothing, such as was worn by passengers on the Titanic.  Research the type of clothing used for long-distance sea-kayaking, such as in WaterTribe’s Ultimate Florida Challenge.

10.  Research the Gilded Age mansions of Newport, RI, the summer cottages of extravagantly wealthy Americans.  Beechwood, the home of John Jacob Astor’s mother, serves as a microcosm of the Gilded Age.

11.  Research the less-than-famous on board the Titanic.  What happened to these survivors?  Follow their stories after the sinking of the Titanic.  The book Women and Children First is an excellent resource for this topic.

12.  Compile and illustrate nautical terminology applicable to the Titanic and to sea-kayaking, as in the Ultimate Florida Challenge 2006.

13.  Research the Titanic-related work of Ed Kamuda, Titanic Historical Society president, Don Lynch, Titanic Historical Society historian, and Ken Marshall, Titanic Historical Society artist.  All three of these men were consultants to James Cameron in his filming the Academy Award-winning Titanic.

14.  Research music of the 1912 era, including information on and music performed by Titanic’s Bandmaster Wallace Henry Hartley and his White Star Orchestra.

15.  Culinary arts and the Titanic.  Research the various menus of the Titanic’s three classes.  Include in your research pictures of the original china, crystal, and flatware patterns used by the three classes.  The book Last Dinner on the Titanic: Menus and Recipes from the Great Liner by Rick Archbold and Dana McCauley (with a foreword by Walter Lord) is an excellent resource for this topic.  Juxtapose this with research on survival food for long distance sea-kayaking, such as will be used in the Ultimate Florida Challenge 2006.

16.  The Wreck of the Titan by Morgan Robertson gives an eerie foreshadowing of the Titanic disaster. Read The Wreck of the Titan and research paranormal experiences associated with this ship’s sailing.

17.  Research the lives of the keystones of the White Star saga—Captain Edward J. Smith, Thomas Andrews, and J. Bruce Ismay.

18.  Research the lives of six famous people on board the Titanic.

19.  Research art circa 1912 and the life of artist Frank Millet, who perished on the Titanic.  He and Samuel Langhorne Clemens (a.k.a. Mark Twain) were good friends; Frank Millet and his family often visited the Clemens at the Clemens’ Farmington Avenue, Hartford, CT, home.

20.  Research the life of John Jacob Astor, who perished in the sinking of the Titanic, his wife Madeleine Force Astor, and their son, born soon after this disaster.  Mrs. Astor’s lifejacket is on exhibit at the Titanic Museum. What role do Astor descendants play in American culture and society today?

21.  Contrast the worldview presented in the 1958 movie A Night to Remember to that presented in James Cameron’s Titanic.  A chapter in Down with the Old Canoe examines this topic.

22.  Research the life and works of Father Brown, a Roman Catholic priest and noted photographer, whose photographs taken aboard the Titanic from Southampton to Queenstown, form a rare look into the final days of this ship’s fated voyage.

23.  Research the Gilded Age mansions of Tuxedo Park, NY, (from where tuxedo gets its name), including the home of Daisy Spedden, author of the children’s classic Polar, the Titanic Bear.  The Titanic Museum has the original manuscript of this book on exhibit.

24.  Tour the Titanic.  Research four architecturally significant rooms on the Titanic.  Ken Marshall’s illustrations and books on the Titanic are valuable resources for this topic.

25.  Research four significant sites chosen for the Titanic Historical Society’s conferences. Discuss these sites’ significance to the Titanic saga.  Include as one of your four sites the location for the Titanic Historical Society’s April, 2006, conference.

26.  Research the life of Robert Ballard.  What other projects has he successfully tackled in addition to that of locating the Titanic?  Include in your research Robert Ballard’s current nautical project?

27.  Research the life of Malvinia Dean, the last survivor of the Titanic.

In addition, conduct an interview with Eileen Hall, who starred in the title role of Smith College’s performance of The Last Survivor of the Titanic.  Both Malvinia Dean and Eileen Hall have met.

28.  Teach Polar, the Titanic Bear by Daisy Spedden to elementary students in one of the district’s elementary school classrooms. Create imaginative, arts-integrated learning activities for these students to promote their interest and understanding of the book Polar, the Titanic Bear. This project necessitates your getting prior approval from one of the elementary teachers in the district to teach this book for one block to their students.  Prior approval from your parents or legal guardians to leave Frontier’s campus to teach this book to a class at a nearby elementary school is required as well. Permission slips from both the participating elementary classroom teacher and your parents must be submitted to your English teacher as well as to the Attendance Office at Frontier within one week of receiving this topic in order for you to participate in this Titanic group project activity.

www.titanichistoricalsociety.org

www.drnickhall.com

www.watertribe.com

Extra-Credit Option: You and your parents may want to visit the Titanic Museum, located in Indian Orchard, MA.  This museum is an excellent resource for your Titanic Group Project research and a terrific museum filled to capacity with original artifacts from the Titanic as well as priceless survivors’ memorabilia.  To verify this museum visit for extra-credit, please sign the guest book at the Titanic Museum and ask Ed or Barbara Kamuda to please sign the English I Titanic Museum Extra-Credit Verification Form, which has been distributed to you in English I class and also is included below.  For directions to the Titanic Museum, hours of operation, and admission cost, please go to www.titanic1.org/museum/.

_______________________________________________________________________

English I Titanic Museum Extra-Credit Verification Form:

This verifies that __________________________ (student’s name) Block: _____   has toured the Titanic Museum in Indian Orchard, MA on ________________ (date) for extra-credit in his/her English I class at Frontier Regional High School.

 _____________________________

 Ed Kamuda or Barbara Kamuda

                                                                                                             Date:________________________

________________________________________________________________________

Titanic Group Project Topic Choices:

Name: _______________________________Block:_____ Test Number: _____

Group Project co-worker(s)’s name(s):

________________________________________

Final Group Topic Selected: __________________ Teacher’s Initials: ________

Directions: In order from first to fifth priority, please list in the spaces provided below, your top five Titanic Group Project topic choices, citing the number of the topic as it appears on the Titanic Group Project List as well as a brief topic summary to identify it:______ Topic Choice #1 and a brief topic summary ______ Topic Choice #2 and a brief topic summary: ______ Topic Choice #3 and a brief topic summary: ______ Topic Choice #4 and a brief topic summary: ______ Topic Choice #5 and a brief topic summary:

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Evaluation of Titanic Project Presentation

Name: _____________________________ Block: ______ Test Number: _____

Titanic Project Topic:

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Scoring Key:

10=Excellent     9=Very Good     8=Good     7=Fair     6-0=Poor

Criteria:________ Eye contact with audience ________ Projects voice ________ Professional stance ________ Shows confidence and enthusiasm in his/her presentation ________ Smooth, clear flow of ideas ________ Has thorough grasp of topic under study. ________ Uses handouts, visuals, triptych, and/or audios to enhance the audience’s understanding of the material. ________ Holds audience’s attention and interest by being well organized and thoroughly prepared ________ Is a good audience himself/herself during others’ presentations ________ Is knowledgeable, cooperative, and open to audience’s questions  

Score: __________

Comments: