...Have you ever read a story about a futuristic time where everyone's desperate to get out of the ship yards. Well that's what paolo bacigalupi’s ship breaker is about. This guy named nailer is a ship worker and he hates it. Him and his friend pima were walking on the beach when they find a wrecked ship. Inside this yacht was a lot of dead crew and riches. But one person lived and her name was nita. She says she wants to be taken home but she can't just simply go home. She is the daughter of a big business and she would be taken for a reward. The three literary elements that this story focuses on is characterization, point of view, and setting. These all are used often throughout the story. Characterization is used throughout each character....
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...A boy from Wichita, Kansas who was once not much of an outdoorsman has now become very connected to the ocean. Four-time Emmy Award-winning host and executive producer of the hit show Survivor and New York Times best-selling author Jeff Probst knew at an early age that storytelling was something he wanted to. “I was interested in storytelling from the time I was in junior high school,” Probst says “I took a creative speaking class and was drawn to the power of words to take people on a journey.” He has chased that passion for over 40 years. Probst’s journey to the world of television took off in Seattle, where he began starring in commercials and hosting television shows, ultimately leading him to New York and working for the FX network. “I was always drawn to the immediacy of live television where anything could and often did happen,” said Probst. Around the world Through his travels, Probst has been impacted by a variety of cultures and individuals that have helped shape him into the man he is today. “I think I’ve grown quite a bit as result of visiting so many different kinds of people,” Probst said. Probst has spent more than a decade traveling the globe and adapting to and working in harsh living conditions in remote areas. The extreme weather conditions have proven to be quite a challenge for him, whether it is battling high heat temperatures or torrential rain, Probst manages to make best of the situation. “But those extreme conditions are part of the experience...
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...Diehm gives clear and understandable explanations about what it is like to be in the race. I learned many new things about Dragon Boat Racing that I never thought I would learn. In paragraph eleven through fourteen, she explains how it felt throughout the race. She uses specific details such as “ninety strokes per second” and “one collective heart beat”. These details help the reader picture the race in their mind. One quote that I feel really gives a good view of the aftermath of the race is, “With now-shaking arms and pounding hears we slowly make our way back, where we unload and trade places with the next team waiting to go out,” (paragraph 13). It helps the reader understand how she was feeling after the race. Throughout most of profile, she gives extremely vivid detailing about the race. However, in paragraph three, I feel as if she could have added details about the...
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...U-boat 977 opens with Schaeffer recalling his voyages in the German navy after spotting a news article about his boat. Schaeffer goes on to talk about his encounter arriving at Argentina with the crew that stuck by him on the journey. The first chapter ends with the question of how they believed Hitler was aboard his own submarine. Schaeffer takes us then on a brief recollection of his upbringing in Berlin. We learn of his admiration for sailing, and how at such a young age he earned the right to sail any boat on the inland waters of Germany. After persuading his father, Schaeffer begins the naval cadetship exams. War broke out soon after he finished, and young Schaeffer would begin his extensive training in the German navy. We’re taken alongside Schaeffer as he...
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...of goals not yet accomplished, thoughts of love lost, and thoughts of an early, unjust death. In his short story, “The Open Boat”, Stephen Crane places all four of his characters in the face of grave danger, where they consider the chance of their own untimely death. Death is a theme in this story because Crane uses dark atmospheric undertones, dark language usage and imagery, and the situations that the characters face forces them to consider their own demise. Before they challenge their demise, the characters, crunched uncomfortably in a dinghy thrown around on the violent and threatening sea, are known as an injured Captain, a cook, an oiler, and a correspondent. It is unknown to the reader how the Captain was injured, and because of his injury he cannot help his crew but by orders from his mouth. “There was something strange in his voice. Although steady, it was deep with mourning and of a quality beyond oration or tears” (344). This displays the Captain’s inability to help. He feels helpless with his injury and feels sorry, possibly guilty and maybe feels like there is no hope left for his crew. Crane uses many dark undertones, imagery and word usage in this short story to depict a theme of death. The “wrath of the sea” is described as having black (often associated with death) waves, with water that is cold, sad and tragic. (345/358) Rowing the boat is thought to be “diabolical punishment” and a “crime against the back” because of the strain on the back, and rowing...
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...nature. Your struggle may be as little as trying to change a tire in the middle of a rain storm or as severe as expressed in Stephen Crane’s story The Open Boat. From the beginning of time man has pondered the question as to “Why was I placed here on Earth?” We tend to see ourselves as being important, that we have to leave our mark in order for life to have some sort of meaning. In this story, four men, known simply as the captain, the oiler, the correspondent, and the cook, become stranded in the sea in a small boat. Together they are forced to bare the torments of one of Mother Nature’s toughest challenges, the open sea. In this process these four men learn much about nature and just how little they are on Earth. One of the characters, the correspondent, comes to the realization that nature is indifferent despite the struggles of the individuals, “When it occurs to a man that nature does not regard him as important, and that she feels she would not maim the universe by disposing of him…” (para, 174). The captain, who is seen as a symbol of strength to the other men on the boat, has doubt as to whether they can make it to shore safely, “Then the captain, in the bow, chuckled in a way that expressed humor, contempt, tragedy, all in one. “Do you think we’ve got much of a show now, boys?” (para, 25). The men in the boat are still upset with what fate has dealt them and seem to have the same opinion that they are still in control of their outcome, “If I am going to be...
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...In Stephen Crane, “The Open Boat” there is four main characters an Oilier, Captain, Correspondent, and a Cook who formed a brotherhood in a time of crisis. Throughout the story the man encounters some good and bad experience but through it all they were able to maintain a strong brotherhood. The bond that the character had created allowed them to be rescued. The story reveals a tremendous amount of brotherhood throughout the story, but in order to appreciate the crew's challenge to achieve brotherhood one must first realize the diversity of people on the boat. The crew’s willingness to follow the captain orders display how brotherhood is first display in the story. They accomplished brotherhood by placing their trust in the captain to get them back to shore. Likewise, we see them display more brotherhood when they come together to make a sail. Due to the strong wind the crew devised a plan to use the captains’ jacket and one oar to create a sail. The captain place is confidant in their ideas to make a sail out of his jacket that allow them sail. The correspondent and Oilier shows brotherhood by working together after the build the sail and only had one oar. Near the end of the story the captain exhibits so true brotherhood. The captain, though injured, remains clear-headed and makes the decisions, which the others unquestioningly obey. However, the captain and the other crew members were struggling to swim to shore, but the captain unselfishly told the local man to help the...
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...Surratt The Open boat is a short story written and published in 1897. It was written by Stephen Crane detailing his thirty hour experience stranded in the ocean after the S.S. Commodore sank. Stephen, at the time, was a newspaper correspondent and was on his way to Cuba for a job. Crane, along with three others, survived the ship wreck. Once they knew the S.S. Commodore was sinking, they were rescued and boarded a small boat. Shortly after their rescue, Stephen created a short story in which he narrated his personal account. The story is soon published by Scribner’s Magazine. He received praise in America and England for his literary naturalism provided in the story. Throughout Crane’s career as an author, and in the present day, The Open Boat is, in most critics’ opinion, Stephen’s best work as an author. The major theme in this short story is “Man vs Nature”. Crane gives an in-depth, detailed account of what he and three other men experienced against the raging sea. One example of the conflict is, from the start of the story, Crane gives a description of how much visibility there is to navigate the boat. He writes, “These waves were of the hue of slate, save for the tops, which were of foaming white, and all of the men knew the colors of the sea” (Crane, 1897). This gives readers an image that for miles nothing other than waves of water could be seen, making it almost impossible to direct the boat in those conditions. Though navigation of the boat had seemed all but...
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...In Stephen Crane’s “The Open Boat”, Crane demonstrates his idea that man cannot even attempt to best nature by the isolation and trials of the men in nature, the hardships that even the best of men face, and the lack of understanding of nature while isolated in the sea. Stephen Crane starts off the story by leaving the men in isolation from the world, a test, which they fail, if they could best nature without help except for their abilities as humans not connected to nature. The men, from the beginning of the journey feel despair. Even though they rowed for so long all the men discovered “that after successfully surmounting one wave you discover that there is another behind it” (Crane 604). The men knew from the beginning of the journey towards safety, that the waves in the sea, an example of nature, would best the men from its endurance. The men depended on the wind that nature provided them because they rode in a dingy that “man ought to have a bath-tub larger than the boat which” (603) they rode in. Second, the men cannot reach the shore by any means. Even though the “light-house had been growing slowly larger” (607), the men never reach the light-house. The lack of ability to reach the light-house shows that the men are not in touch with nature, in this case the sea, leading to their inability to reach the island. Lastly, the man cannot converse with the other men on shore, showing nature’s ability to disrupt man’s methods for communication. The men seemed dazzled and confused...
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...On a yacht bound for Rio de Janeiro, the story starts off with a man named Whitney & his friend Rainsford. They are big-game hunters who are headed towards their destination, the Amazon River basin. It's around night time when the yacht sails past a mysterious island. Whitney decides to call it a night & Rainsford opts to smoke his pipe on the afterdeck. Suddenly, he hears gunshots & leans closer to the railings. Rainsford drops his pipe, loses his balance & falls in the water. The yacht quickly disappears in the night & leaves Rainsford in the cold, desolate water. Rainsford decides to swim towards the gunshots after debating where he should go. He hears the screeching sound of an animal & feels intimidated, but continues to go in that direction. He reaches the shore & immediately falls into a deep sleep. He wakes up the next morning on goes on a search for food. He finds footprints & follows them up to a chateau, which seems like a mirage. Rainsford knocks on the iron gate & a colossal man appears, & refuses to help him until another man by the name of General Zaroff invites Rainsford in. Zaroff treats Rainsford like any normal person would treat a guest & they strike a conversation about hunting at the dinner table. Zaroff states that he hunts the most dangerous of game & shows Rainsford the impressive heads of animals he has mounted. Zaroff starts to hint at the new game he started hunting & Rainsford slowly starts to realize in horror that he’s talking about humans. The next...
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...Comparison of Stephen Crane's "The Open Boat" and Jack London's "To Build a Fire" Two prominent American literature works, Stephen Crane’s “The Open Boat” and Jack London’s “To Build a Fire” portray the man vs. nature theme. These two pieces are alike and different in many ways. I can agree and disagree on the survival methods used by both authors, although Crane’s methods seemed a bit more questionable. While nature seemed to toy with the crew of the boat in “The Open Boat”, the old man in “To Build a Fire” seems to toy with nature by ignoring its signs to stop and to relinquish his failing journey. In the following paragraphs I’d like to get into the trenches of these two adventure stories. These two authors share similar traits when it comes to connections and reasons for writing these stories. Stephen Crane wrote “The Open Boat” based on a real life experience he went through. It was on December 31, 1896 when Crane left the Florida panhandle en-route for Cuba. His mission was to cover the war as a correspondent. On January 2, his ship sank and he and the other three crew members were forced to make the rest of the 30 hour trip in a small dinghy back to the United States (SN). This real life experience compares to Jack London’s real life journey through the Yukon Territory in 1897, around the same time as Crane’s sea adventure. London scavenged the area with others around that time in search for gold (Rees). While the gold rush was ultimately not as successful as he had...
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...Tuesday 7/9 “To build a fire” Describe the different viewpoints of the man of the dog. Thursday 7/11 “The open Boat” What are the different social roles of the four men in the boat? How does their social standing affect their character and the natural forces they struggle against? There were four men in the boat. They were the correspondent, the oiler, the cook and the captain. Each of them had their unique characteristics and their own social roles. The correspondent functions as a narrator of the story and he seems to be the only one who observes the waves and wonders why he is caught on the ocean at the first place. He wonders whether he was meant to be drowning in the ocean and curses 7 gods of sea. The oiler is the hardest worker in the boat in order to survive. He does not think or share his mind but only follows the captain’s orders. Ironically, even though his contribution towards the survival, he is the only one who does not make it. Unlike the correspondent and the oiler, the cook doesn’t paddle due to lack of ability. However he seems to be only positive thinkers in the boat and he bails water out to avoid sinking. When he saw a land, he imagines himself of his favorite pie in the middle of survival. Finally the captain is the leader; he is very calm and makes best decision in order to secure crews’ life. At the beginning of the story, he was miserable as he lost his ship and was injured. However throughout the story he shows he responsibility to save...
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...In The Cay, by Theodore Taylor, Philip the main character is a 11 year old boy who gets stuck on a island with a old negro. He faces many challenges and emotions but, Phillip reveals that through many conflicts, he developed bravery, gratefulness, and independence. Philip shows frightened behavior after the ship he is on is torpedoed by the Germans. He is separated from his mother and thrown aboard a small raft. When he wakes up he is in the middle of the ocean with a old negro. ‘’That lonely sea, and the sharp pains in my head, and the knowledge that I was here alone with a black man instead of my mother made me break into tears’’ (Taylor pg, 32). Phillip is disoriented and scared after 2 days on the raft. Phillip demonstrates bravery after he goes blind and must rely on timothy for his eyes. Once Phillip and Timothy arrive on the island they see a huge palm tree but philip is to frightened to climb it because he can not see, but he showed bravery when he jumped on the tree and did not stop climbing till he reached the top. Phillips bravery only increased from there and he was not frightened anymore. In the middle of the novel philip was ungrateful to Timothy. He got mad when timothy left him to go hunt at the reef. In the text Philip states ‘’Don’t you ever leave me again!’’ (Taylor, pg 60) Phillip blamed timothy for leaving him all alone. But really Phillip was just scared and frightened. But, as the weeks passed Philip became happy and warmed up to Timothy they soon became...
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...Annie John is a 17 year old girl that is leaving an island called Antiqua. Which is where she grew up, but is now leaving for a new life in England. Then there is Captain Keeney which is in his 40’s, he sails in the North Atlantic for whales, he’s a whaler to get the oil or in his words “ile” from the whales. They both have a lot in common and a lot of differences, which is pretty interesting to find out considering they are both from two completely different stories. This essay will cover their home life and their life on the ships, why they are doing what they do to chase success, and was it worth it. Annie John loved Antiqua, it was where she grew up, why wouldn’t she? But she really wants to leave for two reasons, one she wants to chase her dream to become a nurse, second she feels held down at the island, Annie feels the island is way too small for her. She is taller than her whole family and “when she lays down in her bed her legs hang over the foot of her bed” (14-15). Then with Captain Keeney he only loves getting the “ile”, he spends years after years on his ship sailing, catching whales. Keeney has been going out catching whales for their oil since he was young. The big difference with these two leaving home for so long is that with Annie she wants more out of the world, something new, and with Keeney he is doing this for the money, it’s what he has been doing for his whole life. But they both are doing this for the same overall reason which is chasing their success...
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...The first work I viewed was An Unpeopled Land in Uncharted Waters: No World, by Kara Walker. The image depicts a ship held above a water surface by two hands larger than the ship itself, a facedown silhouette of a woman in the water, and two tiny people interacting on a flat surface that blends into the sea. In the background there seems to be a landmass hidden in the clouds. The hands seem to be symbolic for the large number of people that drowned in the sea in order to operate the ship, or the power of the ship owner. Although these hands protect the ship from the rough sea, the woman in the water suggests that people still drowned in the sea because they weren’t important enough. Bubbles coming out of her mouth indicate that the woman...
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