Lesson: Multiple Accounts Lesson Topic: Distinguish between firsthand and secondhand accounts Question 1: Read the excerpt below. Adapted from Memories of September 11 Narrative by Henrietta McKee Carter From the Library of Congress I woke up at my usual 6 a.m. time that morning, using my radio as an alarm clock. The first news item I heard was about two planes that had deliberately flown into the World Trade Center. I ran down the hallway in my nightgown to check the TV news, which I rarely watch, and had the worst confirmed by the strange, unspeakable images on every channel. I learned more about the attack from stories coming in from other places, some of which turned out to be inaccurate. One of my first thoughts was of friends living in New York City, one of whom worked very close to the World Trade Center. Is this text an example of a firsthand or secondhand account? It is a firsthand account. It is a secondhand account. It is both a firsthand and a secondhand account. It is neither a firsthand or secondhand account.
Question 2: Read the passage below. Brother Against Brother in the Civil War Written by Allison Zeller The American Civil War created deep divisions between the North and South. Some favored slavery and two separate nations, while others fought for freedom and unity. It may be hard to imagine, but the issues also divided many families in the Civil War era. Some family members fought for the Union, while others sided with the Confederacy. The war brought on more than 600,000 American causalities. In many of those deadly battles, brothers fought against their own brothers. Question 3: Read the passage below. The Battle of Antietam: September 17, 1862 Written by America's Story from America's Library At dawn, the hills of Sharpsburg, Maryland, thundered with artillery and musket fire as the Northern and Southern armies struggled for possession of the Miller farm cornfield during the Civil War. For three hours, the battle lines swept back and forth across the land. More lives would be lost on September 17, 1862, than on any other day in the nation's history. By mid-morning, General Robert E. Lee's Confederate troops were crouched behind the high banks of a country lane. They fired upon advancing Union troops, but the Union General, George B. McClellan, held a strategic advantage a scout had discovered a copy of the Confederate army's battle plan.
Question 4: Read the passage below. Adapted from Diary Entry of September 17, 1862 Written by Robert Kellogg, 14th Connecticut Volunteer This has been indeed a fearful day. We woke up early in the morning, and I went out and read the Bible and said a prayer. In a few minutes, the enemy began to throw shells at us from a battery that they had planted near us, killing several men. We were then moved to the right into a cornfield, but we had hardly got there when the order was countermanded, and we were marched to the left, about 1/4 of a mile, directly under a rapid fire of shells from the rebels, into the forest. The shells burst all around us. Our Chaplain had his coat pocket torn by a fragment of shell. After lying in the woods awhile, we were formed and marched about two mile over hills and through valleys, fording a river about knee deep. Question 5: Which of the following texts are firsthand accounts? Check all that are true. "The Battle of Antietam: September 17, 1862" "Brother Against Brother in the Civil War" "Diary Entry of September 17, 1862" none of the above Lesson Topic: Compare and contrast firsthand and secondhand accounts on the same topic
Question 1: Read the text below. From What happened on the Titanic? Written by Luann Sessions The Titanic, the ship that couldn t sink, did. The Titanic hit an iceberg and sank in the waters of the North Atlantic on April 15, 1912. Over 1,500 people died. First class passengers had paid as much as $124,000 in today s money just to make the voyage. Since that event, people have tried to piece together what really happened. It is clear that the ship was going too fast to avoid the floating icebergs adrift in the water. The ship s owner was trying to get to New York in record time. Some people think mistakes were made in turning the ship away from the iceberg. It may have been less damaging to hit the iceberg head on. One report claims the steersman actually turned the wrong way. This brought the ship even closer to the iceberg. As it was, the ship hit the iceberg on its starboard, or right, side. The blow opened up five compartments, and the ocean water rushed in. From then on, it was impossible to keep the ship from sinking. The RMS Carpathia was closest to the disaster and rushed to pick up the survivors. It took an hour and a half to reach the place. When it finally reached the place from which the distress signals had come, there was nothing but water. There was no sign of the ship or survivors. Then the crew spotted a lifeboat. They found the rest, one by one. Only 705 passengers survived that night. Three of those died a few days later. Most of the survivors came from the first class section. Few survived from the third class section.
Question 2: Which of the following sentences would NOT belong in a secondhand account of the Great Depression? Check all that are true. I missed my home, my clothes, and all of my things. But I adjusted. We all did. The stock market crash of 1929 was one of the causes of the Great Depression, which would last for the next ten years. Many people were forced to leave their homes during the Great Depression. The worst part about it all was the sadness etched permanently into my mother's once beautiful face. Thousands of people lost their jobs, and they could not afford to pay their rent or mortgages.
Question 3: Read the text below. Adapted from Rose Amelie Icard's Letter Written by Rose Amelie Icard Towards eleven o'clock: Mrs. Stone and I went to bed. Three quarters of an hour later, as the liner was cruising at full speed, a terrifying shock threw us out of bed. We were intending to find out what was happening, when a passing officer told us, "It is nothing, return to your cabin." I answered, "Listen to that loud noise, it sounds like water is flowing into the ship." Upon our return to the cabin I saw that our neighbor from across the passageway had gone back to bed. Her daughter arrived in a panic, yelling, "Mommy, quick quick, get up it's very serious." I helped Mrs. Stone to dress, she took her lifebelt and told me, "come quickly." I was trembling, and still in my dressing gown, I took a coat, my lifebelt, and followed her on deck. There I found my travel blanket and my fur coat, left on my lounge chair. They were to miraculously preserve me as revealed later. We felt beneath our feet the deck lean towards the depths. I went back below decks to retrieve the jewels of Mrs. Stone, but fortunately I chose the wrong stairwell and returned to the deck halfway there. Fortunately for me, for I would have never come back up again. At this moment we witnessed unforgettable scenes where horror mixed with the most sublime heroism. Women, still in evening gowns, some just out of bed, barely clothed, disheveled, distraught, scrambled for the boats. Commander Smith yelled, "Women and children first." Firm and calm, in the throng, officers and sailors were taking the women and children by the arm and directing them towards the lifeboats.
Question 4: Read the text below. The California Gold Rush Written by the National Parks Service At a time when restless Americans were already itching to go west, the discovery of gold in California in 1848 was like gasoline on a fire. Within a year of its discovery, emigrants using the California Trail were flooding into the Sierra Nevada Range by the thousands. They hoped to strike it rich and make a better lives for themselves. John Sutter was a Swiss immigrant who came to California in 1839 with a dream of building an agricultural empire. When he needed lumber in early 1848, he assigned the task to one of his men, James Marshall. Marshall decided to build a sawmill on the South Fork of the American river, about 40 miles from Sutter's home. Marshall discovered a gold nugget on January 24, 1848, while at the sawmill. He and his men found more gold nearby. Both Marshall and Sutter tried to keep things quiet, but soon word leaked out. Gold fever quickly became an epidemic. Many who already had arrived in California or Oregon immediately gravitated to the western Sierras. But it wasn't until December of 1848 that President James Polk confirmed the findings to Congress, which meant it was too late to start a trip for easterners. But by the spring of 1849, the largest migration (25,000 that year alone) in American history was already taking place. Better-than-average conditions on the plains and in the desert that spring and summer helped soften the blow of the wave of emigrants. But conditions were harsh at best and many livestock were lost along the way. Grass and clean water became scarcer as the trip wore on, and diseases like cholera took their toll. Many people did not survive the journey west. Indians in particular suffered from the "Forty-Niners" who streamed across the land. For centuries, Indians had lived in the West without outside competition for resources. But now the pioneers' lust for wealth was threatening to decimate the Indians through the consumption of foods, lands, water and space. Many new routes were opened into California as a result of the Gold Rush. With an estimated 140,000 emigrants arriving in California via the California Trail between 1849 and 1854, routes were continually modified, tested or even abandoned.
Question 5: Read the text below. Adapted from Diary of William Z. Walker Written by William Z. Walker From the Library of Congress Sometimes I wonder why we all make this long, exhausting journey. So many people have died along the way. Misery threatens to overtake me. Then I remember we want to better the lives of our families. The prospect of wealth and making a better life for the ones I love keeps me going each day. Today, we arrived at Bear River in the afternoon. We found a large number of emigrants engaged in digging and washing gold. The method of operation was very simple: one man dug the earth and put it into a sieve attached to a cradle. A second man washed, rocked, and poured water upon the sieve. After sufficiently washing the earth, it passed through the sieve into the bottom of the cradle. It is open at one end where it passes out leaving only particles of gold and black sand in the bottom. In the sieve remains particles of rocks and roots, which are thrown away. After washing a sufficient quantity of earth, the contents of the cradle are put into a pan; the gold is much heavier and soon deposits itself in the bottom of the pan. An experienced hand will perform this operation in 10 minutes without losing a particle of gold! The journey certainly has not been easy thus far; in fact, times are very tough. But I am eager to start the work for myself, and confident of the luck I will have. This is my chance for a better life.
Correct Answers Lesson: Multiple Accounts Lesson Topic: Distinguish between firsthand and secondhand accounts Question 1: MC1 Question 2: Question 3: Question 4: Question 5: MC3 Lesson Topic: Compare and contrast firsthand and secondhand accounts on the same topic Question 1: Question 2: MC1 MC4 Question 3: Question 4: Question 5: