In the Heart of the Sea

"…It wasn't just the war that made him what he was. That's too easy. It was everything – his whole nature…" – Eleanor K. Wade

Shipwreck at the Bottom of the Worldvividly recreates one of the most extraordinary adventure stories in history. In August 1914, Ernest Shackleton and 27 men sailed from England in an attempt to become the first team of explorers to cross the Antarctic continent from one side to the other. Five months later and still 100 miles from land, their ship,Endurance, became trapped. The expedition survived an Antarctic winter in the icebound ship, then, afterEndurancesank, five months camped on the ice followed by a perilous boat journey through storms and icebergs to remote and unvisited Elephnat Island, 600 miles from Cape Horn. From there, their only hope was for someone to fetch help. In a dramatic climax to this amazing survival story, Shackleton

In the nineteenth century, commercial whalers began using whole fleets to hunt whales, with each ship given a specific role. The largest ship, found at the center of the fleet, was the factory ship. At the heart of these ships are many tanks. Christopher Ash worked as chief chemist on the factory ship Balaena, and in his book Whaler’s Eye, comments on the massive tanks found in these ships. “Balaena really is a tanker, and almost all of her hull…is subdivided into thirty-six tanks. It is rather like an egg crate with nine rows, each of four tanks extending across the ship, and each tank able to take some five hundred tons of fuel or Diesel oil, which will be replaced—after cleaning—by whale or sperm oil, or perhaps meat meal; sometimes they must be filled with sea water as ballast. These tanks are impressively large, being well over thirty feet deep; so that when standing on the bottom and looking up to the one small square of light far above, it is difficult to believe that we can produce enough oil to fill the whole of that volume in twenty hours (Ash, 1962, p.19).” Underneath the tanks is the bottom of the boat. Above the tanks is the tank deck. This holds the centrifuges used to separate oil and glue water, as well as driers and bagging machines

While being on water traveling by ship, there wasn’t much either of them could do to make the conditions any better. William Bradford couldn’t make his conditions improve due to his location on the water, far away from the resources that could help his situation. On William's ship the Mayflower one main problem was sickness and disease. Since the people were on a ship so close to each other the disease would spread quickly, and with lack of medical knowledge and help many would die. Some would just become sick from the cold and the wetness from the horrible weather they would have on their journey. Frequent storms not only caused trouble for the people on board but also caused damage to the ship. Equiano couldn’t change his conditions due to his standing as an African American slave, so he had no say or no control over what happened to him. His journey is known as the middle passage which is the trip from Africa to the americas. On this tough voyage he and the other slaves were shoved d crammed in the lower deck, where it was dark and smelled awful. This smell was from themselves because they had no toilets, and couldn’t bathe, plus people were constantly getting sick. Many of these africans died because of this air. Not only were there living conditions bad they were also frequently beaten and harassed. Mary Rowlandson had a different type of journey, when captured by the natives they

They used to spear whales and hope that they would wash up on shore (Sontella 22). They used this method until they made a new weapon for hunting whale. This new weapon is a spear attached to a rope (23-24). They now can spear the animal and drag it to shore using the rope. This weapon is similar to a harpoon.

Some decisions that the crew made prior to the ramming of the ship was that they wanted to continue to progress forward instead of heading back to repair the ship when it was damaged. "Pollard's behavior, after both the knockdown and the whale attack, indicates that the lacked the resolve to overrule his two younger and less experienced officers." Chapter 6, pg. 101. Phillbrick puts the point across that the captain was not very authoritative and sturdy with his decisions. In my opinion they should have set their dignity and eagerness aside and repaired the ship when it was damaged the first time from the storm. This could have ultimately increased the survivability of the ship and its members. "At twenty years of age, the Essex was reaching the point when many vessels began to exhibit serious structural deterioration." Chapter 1, pg. 19. Due to the critical condition the ship was already in, the ramming of the ship from the sperm whale was all it needed to put the ship at point of no repair. The crewmembers were forced to take what they can and load up three whaleboats.

The crews emotions and feelings about the island constructs expectancy for the reader. According to Connell, ‘“The crew’s nerves seemed a bit jumpy”’ ( Connell, 40). Which indicated that something bad was going to happen. There was also more foreshadowing when Whitney stated that “‘sailors have an extra sense that tells them when they are in danger”’

Throughout the novel, the people stuck on the lifeboat struggle a lot. In the beginning, the group struggles when they witness Hardie, their “captain,” kick a drowning man off of the boat because it was too full: “Then Hardie raised his heavy boot and shoved it into the man’s face, eliciting a cry of anguished surprise. It was impossible to look away, and never have I had more feeling for a human being than I had for that unnamed man” (13). This challenges their morals because they saw a person’s life taken away. Yet, they know that if they want to survive, it was necessary. The next struggle they go through is when Hardie doesn’t stop for children who are floating alone in the ocean, “Mrs. Grant said, “Brute! Go

The article “Into The Dark Water”, by Lauren Tarshis, is an article about the perspective of Jack Thayer on the titanic. In this article The author included a lot of quotes in the article. I think the author Lauren Tarshis included all these quotes to give you an example on how it would feel on the titanic. For an example “It was the kind of night.” Showed that even though the titanic sunk it was still a beautiful life.

In the Heart of the Sea is the name of this magnificent book where in the first chapter, Nathaniel Philbrick tries to show us a place where the principal job is being part of the whaling industry. This chapter is the beginning of history, the beginning of tragedy, the one that occurred in the whaleship, Essex.

The make-up of the Essex may not have seemed important during that dreadful voyage; after all, how could a difference among men affect the fact that a whale had stove the Essex? In actuality it is the composition of those whalers that had everything to do with the outcome of their voyage. These differences include social status, race, rank, and personality differences. Social status in Nantucket was mainly based on if someone was born and raised a Nantucketer, an orphan, outsider or worse a slave. Nantucket was not a racist location; however there was still a disadvantage for African Americans when it came to the whaling world. Along with that came the struggle of command between the Captain and his Shipmates. His struggle of authority ultimately

While traveling to the New World, the colonists took extreme dangerous risks to get here. They fought strong storms, which caused some of them to drown and get buried at sea. When the colonists got sick, some caught more

“At the Dark End of the Street,” is a novel that takes back to the terrifying experience Recy Taylor had in Abbeville, Alabama. Taylor was gang-raped by six white men in the 1940s. This scene immediately shows readers the civil rights movement during the 20th century and how important it was in understanding what was happening. Danielle McGuire is the author of “At the Dark End of the Street,” which was published in 2010. However, “This Nonviolent Stuff’ll Get You Killed,” is a novel that focuses on King’s protection during the Montgomery bus boycott that took place in Montgomery, Alabama. Charles E. Cobb is the author of “This Nonviolent Stuff’ll Get You Killed,” and was published in 2014. Both of these novels focus their points on different and similar aspects of the civil rights movement. When Cobb wrote “This Nonviolent Stuff’ll Get You Killed,” he focuses on the protection African Americans needed in order to not get killed completing everyday tasks, like going grocery shopping. Even on public transportation, civil rights activist felt threatened to the point of bringing weapons and concealing them on their personnel. Even though both novels take place during different times of the Civil Rights Movement they both show the similar hardships important figures played during this movement.

What's The importance of overcoming adversity? why should you try? Read this and you will change your mind on the way you see yourself or think of yourself.

Before moratorium of whaling, there was a high demand of whale oil from blubber. In 1946, International