Name: ___________________________________

Mark: ______ /50 2 = 25

White Squall combines male bonding drama, high seas adventure and coming-of-age stories. Based on the true life memoirs of Chuck Gieg, White Squall

introduces us to 13 high school students who have elected to spend the 1960-61 academic year on the American school ship. The trip is their rite of passage. By the end of White Squall, those who have survived are no longer boys, but men.

MULTIPLE CHOICE: Select the best answer in each of the following questions. [12] 1. A white squall is: [a] a sudden, violent gust of wind followed by rain; [b] a shaking of the earths surface caused by changes beneath the earths surface; [c] a slender, funnel-shaped, whirling cloud that moves across the land; [d] a sudden, violent change in the earth; [e] an eruption of hot water into air; 2. The name of the brigantine ship is the: [a] Armadillo; [c] Alsatian; [e] Alsace-Lorraine;

[b] Algonquian; [d] Albatross; [f] Amontillado;

4. The thirteen boys aboard the ship will spend their senior year at sea. They will sail halfway around the world to the tip of this continent: [a] Africa; [b] Australia; [c] South America; [d] Asia; [e] North America; 5. The ship disembarks (leaves) from this American city port: [a] Miami; [b] New Orleans; [c] Orlando; [d] Havana; [e] Tampa Bay; [f] Palm Beach; 6. The rich boy who arrives late to board the ship, and is forced to leave is; [a] Frank; [b] Chuck; [c] Gil; [d] Dean; [e] Shay; [f] Tod;

Mrs. Macdonald English 10 The White Squall 1

3. The young man who writes a journal and narrates the story is: [a] Dean; [b] Frank; [c] Gil; [d] Chuck; [e] Robert; [f] Shay;

7. The rebel and tough guy that is seen diving off the highest mast of the ship is: [a] Frank; [b] Chuck; [c] Gil; [d] Dean; [e] Shay; [f] Tod; 8. The troubled teen, afraid of heights is: [a] Frank; [c] Gil; [e] Shay; [b] Chuck; [d] Dean; [f] Tod;

9. This character gets caught up in the ships ropes and dangles from the mast: [a] Frank; [b] Chuck; [c] Gil; [d] Dean; [e] Shay; [f] Tod; 10. The skippers wifes name is: [a] April; [c] May; [e] Susan; 11. Dean Preston cheats on his exams because he: [a] cant read; [c] wants to break the rules; [e] both [b] and [c]; [b] Alice; [d] June; [f] Janey; [b] cant write; [d] both [a] and [b]; [f] none of the above;

12. The following people die after the white squall hits the ship: [a] Skippers wife and Dean; [b] Skippers wife and Girard; [c] Tod and Dean; [d] both [a] and [b]; [e] both [b] and [c]; [f] none of the above; DIRECTIONS: Fill in each blank space with the best possible answer. [28] __________________________ are spotted playing and swimming alongside the ship. The English teacher, [13] (name) ______________________ allows the boys to go topside to see them. (name)________________________ [14] [15] shoots one with a ___________________________ because he is mad at the world. Captain brings the bleeding [16] mammal on board and the doctor informs everyone that the animals ____________________ has been pierced [17] and there is no hope for it. Captain tries to force _____________________ to finish it off with a ____________________ [18] [19] The (name) _________________________ is forced to finish the nasty deed himself. The Captain order him off the [20] ship. Both _________________ and __________________ try to dissuade the Captain of his decision, but his mind is [21] [22] is made up. ___________________ climbs the ropes to the ships highest mast and shouts and rings the ships bell as [23] a final farewell. The crew continues their voyage until they are fired upon by a ________________________________________. [24] The soldiers board the brigantine and demand to see all the crew members _________________________. The soldiers [25] threaten to take one of the boys who does not have proper identification into custody. __________________ intervenes [26] and gets punched in the stomach for his efforts. The boy is released but before the soldiers leave, they smash the

Mrs. Macdonald English 10 The White Squall 2

ships ________________________ with the butt of a rifle. The Captain sardonically says to the soldier, [27] _______________________________________________________________________________________________ . [28] The crew reaches their destination after having traveled ________________ miles. They have reached the tip [29] of the continent, and the Galapagos Islands. The area is primitive and the boys climb to the metal box that holds the journal of other boys names that have traveled there before them. In the journal, they inscribe the same message that is on the ships bell: _______________________________________________________________________, and [30] their names. As they journey homeward, they encounter a weather phenomenon called a _____________________________. [31] This type of storm, which comes unaccompanied by clouds, is sudden and violent. Its sheer force __________________ [32] the ship. Crew members become trapped and die, while the remaining crew is rescued the next day. In the city of __________________________, family members and the media are gathered to greet the [33] remaining crew. The boys find that there is to be an inquest to determine who is to blame for the deaths on the sea. Tracy, one of the boys, tries to blame ________________ for capsizing the ship because he did not ___________ [34] [35] ______________________. In their discussion, it is reveled that __________________________ is seeking [36] condemnation of the Captain in revenge for throwing ____________________ off the ship. [37] The United States Coast Guard conducts the formal maritime hearing on behalf of the parents, and tries to make someone accountable. Under questioning, one of the boys admits to not obeying orders and the Captain quickly takes over. He says, Maybe you cant see whats happening here, but its clear to me. I appreciate what youre trying to do Tod. Maybe you could live with it, but I cant. If you think Im going to let a sixteen year old take responsibility, then you Mrs. Macdonald English 10 The White Squall 3 underestimate me . . . . was my ship! The Ocean Academy was my school. Her loss is mine and mine alone. I cant bring your sons back. He reaches into his wallet and offers his _________________________________. It is his final [38] gesture before he heads out of the courtroom. ___________________ becomes overcome with emotion and tries to [39] make the Captain turn back and share his grief with them. ____________________ stands up and rings the ships [40] bell. It was their symbol that represented truth and unity, and it was the motto they came to believe in where we go one, we go all. There were no solutions or punishments resulting from the tribunal. Everyone went their own way, having been blessed or cursed by their real life experience.

Directions: In a well written paragraph, answer the questions that follow. Do you think the Captain made a wise or fair decision when he forced the young man to leave the ship after hed deliberately maimed an animal? Fully explain your answer. [5] __________________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________________ Identify the character from the film who you think (character/personality wise) you mostly resemble. Explain your reasons. [5] __________________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________________ Mrs. Macdonald English 10 The White Squall 4 __________________________________________________________________________________________________

Sunday, October 18, 2009

C.B. Sheldon, 76, Skipper in a Noted Sinking

By DOUGLAS MARTIN Published: Tuesday, October 29, 2002

Christopher B. Sheldon, whose 92-foot twin-masted sailing ship Albatross sank in a freak storm in 1961, a disaster that inspired the 1996 movie ''White Squall,'' died on Oct. 5 in Stamford, Conn. He was 76 and lived in Norwalk, Conn. The cause was pancreatic cancer, Anne Ramsey, his companion, said. Mr. Sheldon was shepherding high-school students on the ship, used as his floating classroom, when a horrific squall welled up and abruptly sank it. Jeff Bridges portrays Mr. Sheldon in the movie about the sinking, in which his wife, Alice, and five others were lost. About 8:30 a.m. on May 2, 1961, the Albatross was gliding through a slight mist in calm seas 180 miles west of Key West on the way to Nassau. Suddenly, a single bolt of lightning flashed across the sky, and a blast of wind smacked the ship. ''It was as if a giant hand took hold of us,'' Mr. Sheldon said in a 1996 interview with People magazine. ''In 15 seconds the Albatross was on its side. In 60 seconds it filled with water. And then it was gone -- the ocean was calm.'' Four students, the ship's cook and Mrs. Sheldon had vanished. Mr. Sheldon, 11 students and an English and math teacher scrambled into lifeboats. They were rescued a day later by a passing Dutch freighter. When the storm hit, Mr. Sheldon did not even have time to begin to take down the sail. It all became such a blur that he could not remember flying home. ''He did the best he could,'' Dick Langford, the teacher who survived, said after the sinking. ''He was just a bad-luck skipper.'' Christopher Barrows Sheldon was born in Manhattan on Oct. 12, 1926. He attended private schools and graduated from the University of San Marcos in Lima, Peru. He earned a bachelor of divinity degree from Princeton Theological Seminary but was never ordained. He next earned a doctorate in philosophy from the University of Madrid. He sailed from the age of 15 and was taken on by Irving Johnson, the explorer and captain of the vessel Yankee, as a crew member on around-the-world voyage from 1956 to 1958. After the first mate fell ill, Mr. Sheldon got the job. Mr. Sheldon took pictures on the trip for National Geographic magazine. In May 1959, he married Alice N. Strahan, a doctor who had served as medical officer on the Yankee. Together they founded the Ocean Academy as a floating prep school in 1959. He held that the sea was ''a great molder of character.'' Students paid $3,250 for an academic year of study, including Spanish and celestial navigation, taught by Mr. Sheldon. Mr. Sheldon bought the ship in 1959. He picked up his third group of students on Sept. 20, 1960, in Bermuda. At the beginning of the trip, Mr. Sheldon had been worried about Hurricane Donna, but that turned out to be little more than a rainstorm. Mrs. Macdonald English 10 The White Squall 5

There is no way to predict a squall, a short, sharp storm of wind. Sailors use the term ''white squall'' because of the whitecaps that sometimes precede such a storm, which meteorologists call a microburst. When the white squall hit the Albatross, the six people who were below deck could not escape. After the survivors dispersed, they did not see each other until some gathered to help make the movie, directed by Ridley Scott. The screenplay was based on a 1963 book about the incident, ''The Last Voyage of the Albatross,'' written by Chuck Gieg, one of the students. Other survivors included William P. Bunting, son of Mary I. Bunting, the president of Radcliffe College. After the accident, Mrs. Bunting told Sargent Shriver, the first director of the Peace Corps, about Mr. Sheldon, and he offered him a job. He became director of operations for the Peace Corps in Colombia, a distraction he welcomed. In addition to Ms. Ramsey, he is survived by a brother, John, of South Bristol, Me. In 1965, he again developed sea fever and bought a 130-foot ship, the Verona, for use as a floating school. On his second voyage in the ship, the ship caught fire near the west coast of Central Africa. The fire destroyed the vessel, but all aboard escaped. In 1967, Mr. Sheldon was recruited by the Peace Corps to take charge of its training center in Puerto Rico. In later years, he operated a mail-order business and served on the board and as treasurer of the Institute of General Semantics, which is based on the language theories of the philosopher Alfred Korzybski. Ms. Ramsey said Mr. Sheldon's greatest pleasure was sailing on his 27-foot Bristol sailboat off Maine. Mr. Sheldon said he found the movie therapeutic because it brought him together with both his colleagues and his feelings. But enough quickly became enough. ''I've seen the movie twice,'' he said in a 1996 interview with The New York Times. ''The second time I walked out during the sinking scene.'' Photo: Christopher B. Sheldon in 1996 near his home in Norwalk, Conn. (Steven Daniel/The Stamford Advocate)

Mrs. Macdonald English 10 The White Squall 6

In 1959, Ocean Academy, Ltd., of Darien, Connecticut, acquired the Albatross to use her for trips combining preparatory college classes and sail training. Over the next three years, Christopher B. Sheldon Ph.D. and his wife, Alice Strahan Sheldon M.D., ran programs for up to fourteen students in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific Ocean. Mrs. Macdonald English 10 The White Squall 7 From fall 1960 to spring 1961, a crew of four instructors (including the Sheldons), a cook and 13 students sailed the

Albatross from the Bahamas through the Caribbean to the Galpagos Islands and back to the Caribbean; a fourteenth
student had been on the ship for the first part of the voyage, but had left in Balboa, Panama. At the beginning of May, the Albatross was en route from Progreso, Mexico, to Nassau, the Bahamas. On the 1st of May, skipper Sheldon decided that they would make a stop at one of the Florida keys to refuel. Shortly after 8:30 am on the 2nd of May 1961, however, the Albatross was hit by a white squall about 125 miles west of the Dry Tortugas and sank almost instantly, taking with her Alice Sheldon, the ship's cook George Ptacnik, and students Chris Coristine, John Goodlett, Rick Marsellus, and Robin Wetherill (John Goodlett was on deck in the last minutes, but probably became entangled in some of the lines or a sail of the sinking ship while freeing a lifeboat, and Christopher Coristine reportedly went below deck in an attempt to save someone else). Refittings of the Albatross over the years by her various owners had made her top heavy, and she keeled over suddenly. There wasn't time to send out a radio distress signal before she was lost, so the remaining crew used her two lifeboats to

make way towards Florida. Around 7:30 a.m. on the 3rd of May, the two boats were found by the Dutch freighter Gran

Rio, who took the survivors to Tampa, Florida.

The loss of the Albatross prompted the United States Coast Guard to undertake a thorough review of the stability and design requirements for sailing school ships. The new rules were codified in the Sailing School Vessels Act of 1982. A fictionalized version of the ship's tragic loss starring Jeff Bridges appeared in the 1996 film White Squall. More accurate narrations were given in the books written by two of the crew members on the last voyage of the Albatross. Sheldon died October 5, 2002, in Connecticut. After the loss of the Albatross Sheldon worked for the Peace Corps and briefly started another ill-fated sailing school. The Sheldons expected to sail through the Caribbean, transit the Panama Canal, then spend a month or more in the Galapagos Islands before returning to their home port of Mystic, Conn

Distance between Miami, Florida, United States and Stanley, Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas), as the crow flies: 5505 miles (8860 km) (4784 nautical miles)

Mrs. Macdonald English 10 The White Squall 8