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Copywork
About This Passage
Poe does not tell us the friends are heartbroken; he shows their grief by what it does to them. After Augustus dies, the survivors 'sat motionless' all day and 'never addressed each other except in a whisper.' Copying these two sentences teaches how a writer can measure deep sorrow by behavior — stillness and silence — rather than by stating the feeling outright.
About twelve o’clock he expired in strong convulsions, and without having spoken for several hours. His death filled us with the most gloomy forebodings, and had so great an effect upon our spirits th...
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Discussion Questions
Narration Prompt
Retell this chapter in order: how the narrator and Peters care for their dying friend Augustus, who at last expires; how they grieve; how the wreck rolls completely over, hurling them into a shark-filled sea; how they climb back and find barnacles on the hull and crabs in the sea-weed to live on; and how, after the longest suffering, a ship called the Jane Guy comes at last and saves them. Then choose the moment you find most decisive and explain why.
Discussion Questions
- Starving and parched themselves, the narrator and Peters give the dying Augustus three times his share of water and do 'every thing in our power for his comfort.' Explain what these acts reveal about the friends, even at the limit of their own strength. Use details from the chapter.
- After Augustus dies, the survivors do not weep or cry out but sit 'motionless by the corpse during the whole day,' addressing each other only 'in a whisper.' Explain what Poe conveys about their grief by showing this stillness and silence rather than loud sorrow. Use details from the chapter.
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Vocabulary Builder
Item 1
Wanting or eating huge amounts; greedy.
Item 2
Boldly daring, even recklessly so.
Item 3
The lack of basic things like food and water.
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Critical Thinking
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