In the Heart of the Sea Assgmt 3

In the piece retelling the tragedy of the Essex, “In the Heart of the Sea” (2000), particularly chapters nine through eleven, the author, Nathaniel Philbrick exploits the emotions, mental instability, and savageness of the remaining sailors in order to bring out the effects of the sinking of the ship. Through sensory details, such as “It was a black night and the noise that had once signaled the thrill of the hunt now terrified them.” (Pg 162), the author demonstrates the disastrous hardships of the ship-less sailors. In addition, Philbrick uses telegraphic sentences for foreshadowing, getting straight to the issue, or forcing emotion out of the reader. The author shifts tone; comparing the tone from the beginning chapters to chapter eleven, there is a change from logical and reflective to frightening and surprising. The purpose of these particular chapters is to describe the lengths to which the sailors would go to survive in order to illustrate their spiral into madness. As the piece continues, it deals with more and more mature themes indicating that the author aims for an audience of young adults or an older crowd, in addition to readers of adventurous, yet startling tales of the sea.

Vocabulary

Brackish: somewhat salty, especially from being a mixture of fresh and salt water

Cataracts: a heavy downpour of rain or a great flood

Poignancy: causing a sharp sense of sadness, pity, or regret

Translucent: allowing light to pass through, but only diffusely, so that objects on the other side cannot be clearly distinguished

Unabated: still as forceful or intense as before

Veneer: a thin layer of a material bonded to the surface of a less attractive or inferior material

Voracious: desiring or consuming food in great quantities

Tone

Shocking, brutish

Rhetorical Strategies

• Shift in tone; “In the next four days the crew collected 180 tortoises on Hood.” (Pg 74)…“Chase told his men that they had no choice but to cut these half rations once again- to only one and a half ounces of bread a day.” (Pg 156)
• Telegraphic sentences; “The boats no longer leaked. In addition to hardtack each crew had some fish and birds. There were also three fewer men to support.” (Pg 150)
• Dashes; “Yet, given the complex range of factors- psychological as well as physiological- influencing each man’s health…” (Pg 167)
• Ravenous diction; “The saliva flowed in their months as their long-dormant stomachs gurgled with digestive juices.” (Pg 166)
• Sensory details; Paradox
• Foreshadowing; “But no matter how grim their prospects might seem, they were better than those of Hendricks’s boat-crew. Without a compass or a quadrant, Hendricks and his men were now lost in an empty and limitless sea.” (Pg 174)
• Personification: “…the wind deserted them. The sun beat down with the same withering force hat had so oppressed them prior to their arrival…” (Pg 152)
• Emotional appeal; “The lot fell to Owen Coffin. “My lad, my lad!” Pollard cried out. “[I]f you don’t like your lot, I’ll shoot the first man that touches you.” Then the captain offered to take the lot himself…But coffin had already resigned himself to his fate.” (Pg 176)
• Exemplification; “Autopsies of starvation victims have revealed a dramatic atrophy of muscle tissue and a complete absence of fat- replaced, in some instances, by a translucent gelatinous substance. (Pg 166)

Discussion Questions

1. What is the purpose of the author using emotional appeal when retelling a piece of history?

2. Out of the following, description, cause and effect, and process analysis, which style is the most appropriate for this piece, based on the story so far? Include examples.

3. Predict the number of survivors at the end of the novel.

*Is this considered a novel since retelling a factual event?

Quote

“With barely a pound of hardtack left to share among men, Hendricks and his crew dared speak of a subject that had been on all their minds: whether they should eat, instead of bury, the body.” (Pg 164)