Introducing the Selections Informational Text Focus: Evaluating Primary and Secondary Sources

Introducing the Selections

Informational Text Focus: Evaluating Primary and Secondary Sources

Writing Skills Focus: Preparing for Timed Writing

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R.M.S. Titanic Historical Article

A Fireman’s Story/From a LifeboatEyewitness Accounts

What choices doomed so many people to die during the sinking of the Titanic?

R.M.S. TitanicHistorical Article

On April 10, 1912, the largest ship ever built started out on its first voyage to New York.

The Titanic never arrived at its destination.

R.M.S. TitanicIntroducing the Selection

The ship’s builder believed she was unsinkable—a gigantic lifeboat.

[End of Section]

What went wrong? Read “R.M.S. Titanic” to learn the truth behind the mammoth ship’s ironic fate.

R.M.S. TitanicIntroducing the Selection

When you research historical information, you’ll find two categories of materials:

• primary sources

• secondary sources

R.M.S. TitanicInformational Text Focus: Evaluating Primary and

Secondary Sources

A primary source is a firsthand account that has not been interpreted or edited by other writers.

Examples:

• letters

• interviews

• speeches

• eyewitness accounts

R.M.S. TitanicInformational Text Focus: Evaluating Primary and

Secondary Sources

A primary source has the advantage of being a firsthand account of an event.

In the eyewitness accounts of “A Fireman’s Story” and “From a Lifeboat,” you learn about the sinking of the Titanic from people who were actually there.

R.M.S. TitanicInformational Text Focus: Evaluating Primary and

Secondary Sources

A Fireman’s Storyby Harry Senior

I was in my bunk when I felt a bump. One

The drawback of a primary source is that it includes only one person’s viewpoint.

A primary source may be unreliable, especially if it is highly subjective, or based heavily on emotion or opinion.

R.M.S. TitanicInformational Text Focus: Evaluating Primary and

Secondary Sources

A secondary source is based on other sources. Information is interpreted, summarized, or retold by another writer.

Examples:

• encyclopedias

• textbooks

• biographies

• newspaper and magazine articles

R.M.S. TitanicInformational Text Focus: Evaluating Primary and

Secondary Sources

A secondary source, such as “R.M.S. Titanic,” often covers the topic more broadly.

Secondary sources are generally more objective, or factual. However, writers sometimes include their opinions and feelings on the topic.

R.M.S. TitanicInformational Text Focus: Evaluating Primary and

Secondary Sources

R.M.S. Titanicby Hanson W. Baldwin

As you evaluate a source, decide how much you should believe—and why. Ask yourself:

• How credible—or believable—is the source? How knowledgeable is the writer about the subject?

R.M.S. TitanicInformational Text Focus: Evaluating Primary and

Secondary Sources

• Does the writer seem to have a bias—a prejudice about the topic?

Watch for words or phrases that give a one-sided view.

Recent dates may be better for secondary sources, but primary sources may be more valuable.

• When was the text written?

Into Action: As you read, record objective and subjective language in a chart like the one below.

Selection

“Westbound

steamers report

bergs, growlers and

field ice”

“Out of the dark she

came, a vast, dim,

white, monstrous

shape”

[End of Section]

R.M.S. TitanicInformational Text Focus: Evaluating Primary and

Secondary Sources

Objective Details

Subjective Details

“R.M.S. Titanic”

As you read the selections, you may notice differences in the accounts of the Titanic’s sinking.

R.M.S. Titanic Writing Skills Focus

Record these differences in your notebook.

[End of Section]

Preparing for Timed Writing

Vocabulary

corroborated v.: supported.

R.M.S. TitanicVocabulary

ascertain v.: determine.

perfunctory adj.: done with little care or thought; indifferent.

pertinent adj.: having some association with the subject.

The dark, frigid night made it difficult to ascertain the damage to the ship.

The sentence below may help you understand how the word ascertain is used in “R.M.S. Titanic.”

Why do you think it was so difficult to ascertain whether the ship was sinking at first?

R.M.S. TitanicVocabulary

The extent of the damage might have been difficult to ascertain because

• the shock of the impact was so slight, many didn’t know it had occurred

• the large ship and late-night hours made it difficult to communicate information among the crew

R.M.S. TitanicVocabulary

She might be checking the patient’s lungs for signs of pneumonia.

What might the doctor hope to ascertain from this x-ray?

R.M.S. TitanicVocabulary

A survey of several sources corroborated the serious nature of the damage.

Read the sentence below to help you understand how the word corroborated is used.

Professor Guzman corroborated the fact that I had written the research report on my own.

R.M.S. TitanicVocabulary

Our veterinarian corroborated the new study’s findings about nutritional supplements for dogs.

Did the veterinarian

a) fill out important forms?

b) confirm the study’s information?

c) contradict the research?

R.M.S. TitanicVocabulary

The perfunctory nature of the inspections meant that little additional information was acquired.

The sentence below may help you understand how the word perfunctory is used in “R.M.S. Titanic.”

What actions would you expect in a perfunctory safety drill?

R.M.S. TitanicVocabulary

Dragging their flotation devices, sleepy passengers slowly lined up,

which gave the evacuation drill a perfunctory feel.

R.M.S. TitanicVocabulary

Which image shows what appears to be a perfunctory activity?

R.M.S. TitanicVocabulary

The investigating committee collected all the pertinent facts related to the tragedy and its aftermath.

The sentence below may help you understand how the word pertinent is used in “R.M.S. Titanic.”

R.M.S. TitanicVocabulary

Why do you think the investigators collected only the pertinent facts?

Pertinent is another way to say . . .

relevant

related

applicable

significantimportant

relatable

R.M.S. TitanicVocabulary

Which equipment looks as though it would be pertinent to sailing?

[End of Section]

R.M.S. TitanicVocabulary

The End