Standards of Focus

1
Standards of Focus

• RL.10.1. Cite strong and thorough textual
  evidence to support analysis of what the text
  says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from
  the text.
• RL.10.3. Analyze how complex characters (e.g.,
  those with multiple or conflicting motivations)
  develop over the course of a text, interact with
  other characters, and advance the plot or develop
  the theme.
• RL.10.9. Analyze how an author draws on and
  transforms source material in a specific work
  (e.g., how Shakespeare treats a theme or topic
  from Ovid or the Bible or how a later author
  draws on a play by Shakespeare).

2
Quickwrite

• Should reporters remain detached and objective
  when reporting a tragedy? OR should they express
  their personal feelings and become involved with
  helping victims? What is the proper role of the
  news media?

3
And of Clay Are We Created

• By Isabel Allende

4
Story Summary

• In this story, Isabel Allende tells about a
  13-year-old victim of a volcanic eruption. For
  three days, the girl is buried up to her neck in
  water and clay, while a reporter works to get
  help for her and to keep her spirits up. Her
  situation forces the reporter to confront buried
  memories in his own life.

5
Background

• When the seismograph began to record the violent
  earth-shaking caused by yet another eruption of
  the Nevado del Ruiz volcano in Colombia, no one
  thought that a few hours later more than 23,000
  people would be dead, killed by lahars (volcanic
  debris flows) in towns and villages several tens
  of kilometers away from the volcano. Before the
  fatal eruption the volcano was being monitored by
  scientists at a seismic station located 9
  kilometers from the summit, and information about
  the volcano's activity was being sent to
  Colombian emergency-response coordinators who
  were charged with alerting the public of the
  danger from the active volcano. Furthermore,
  areas known to be in the pathways of lahars had
  already been identified on maps, and communities
  at risk had been told of their precarious
  locations.
• Unfortunately, a storm on November 13, 1985,
  obscured the glacier-clad summit of Nevado del
  Ruiz. On that night an explosive eruption tore
  through the summit and spewed approximately 20
  million cubic meters of hot ash and rocks across
  the snow-covered glacier. These materials were
  transported across the snow pack by avalanches of
  hot volcanic debris (pyroclastic flows) and
  fast-moving, hot, turbulent clouds of gas and ash
  ( pyroclastic surges). The hot pyroclastic flows
  and surges caused rapid melting of the snow and
  ice, and created large volumes of water that
  swept down canyons leading away from the summit.
  As these floods of water descended the volcano,
  they picked up loose debris and soil from the
  canyon floors and walls, growing both in volume
  and density, to form hot lahars. In the river
  valleys farther down the volcano's flanks, the
  lahars were as much as 40 meters thick and
  traveled at velocities as fast as 50 kilometers
  per hour. Two and a half hours after the start of
  the eruption one of the lahars reached Armero, 74
  kilometers from the explosion crater. In a few
  short minutes most of the town was swept away or
  buried in a torrent of mud and boulders, and
  three quarters of the townspeople perished.

6
Vocabulary

1. Embody to give shape to or visibly represent
2. Fortitude strength of mind courage
3. Pandemonium a wild uproar or noise
4. Resignation passive acceptance of something
   submission
5. Stratagem a clever trick or device for obtaining
   an advantage
6. Stupor a state of mental numbness, as from shock
7. Tenacity the quality of holding persistently to
   something firm determination
8. Tribulation great distress or suffering

7
Nevado del Ruiz volcano erupts in Colombia, South
America, in 1985
8
Death Toll 23,000
9
Deadly Mudslides
10
Omayra Sanchez

• Omayra was trapped up to her neck in water,
  concrete, and other debris for three days before
  she succumbed to gangrene and hypothermia. During
  three nights of agony, Omayra seemed strong but
  was suffering. She sang and had normal
  conversations with the people who were trying to
  help her. The little girl was thirsty and scared.
  On the third night, Omayra began hallucinating,
  saying that she did not want to be late for
  school. At some point she asked the people to
  leave her so they could rest. Television coverage
  of the disaster introduced her to the world when
  she was still alive. The photo was taken hours
  before her death.

11
Analyze Authors Perspective

• Read the About the Author on pg. 585
• Based on this information and what we know the
  story is about, how do you think the authors
  perspective or background will influence her
  story?

12
Fiction or Nonfiction

• And of Clay is a fiction piece based on a true
  story.
• While reading, look for clues that it is fiction.
  
• After the story, we are going to read a newspaper
  article about the actual event and compare them.

13
News Article

• Turn to pg. 599
• Read the article Girl, Trapped in Water for 55
  Hours, Dies.
• Once you finish reading it, you will complete a
  Venn Diagram comparing And of Clay to the news
  article
• After completing the Venn, put a star next to
  which piece affected you more strongly (the short
  story or the news article)