Plot & Social Class
Because the ship felt warm, brightly lit, and safe, many passengers initially refused to do this during the first hour after the collision.
What is enter/board the lifeboats?
A direct transmission log from Marconi wireless operators sent on April 15, 1912, is classified as this type of historical evidence.
What is a primary source?
This group of crew members stayed below deck until the very end to feed steam dynamos so the ship's lights would stay lit.
Who are the engineers?
This specific event happens immediately after the iceberg strikes the side of the Titanic in Chapter 1.
What is ice falls onto the forward deck (or passengers notice a faint shudder/glancing blow)?
This officer enforced a strict interpretation of "women and children ONLY," resulting in many lifeboats leaving the ship half-empty.
Who is Officer Charles Lightoller?
These were the traditional distress letters transmitted over the telegraph before "SOS" became the universal standard.
What is CQD ("Come Quick Danger")
Wireless operators Harold Bride and Jack Phillips demonstrated professional duty by doing this until Captain Smith released them from their posts.
What is sending distress signals (SOS/CQD)?
Shipbuilder Thomas Andrews informs Captain Smith of this realization after inspecting the flooded forward compartments.
What is that the Titanic is mathematical doomed / will sink?
Unlike Lightoller, Officer Murdoch allowed this group of passengers to board lifeboats on his side of the ship if no women were waiting.
Who are men / male passengers?
This nearby ship failed to respond to the Titanic's distress rockets because its wireless operator had gone off duty for the night.
What is the Californian?
Most commanders of half-empty lifeboats refused to row back to save drowning swimmers in the water because of this specific fear.
What is the fear of being swarmed or capsized by people in the water?
This event in Chapter 5 finally convinces remaining passengers on deck that the ship is actually sinking and lifeboats are necessary.
What is the bow tilting sharply downward / rockets being fired into the sky?
Rather than a written order to lock them below, Third-Class passengers were mainly delayed by these three obstacles.
What are locked gates/barriers, the complex physical layout of the ship, and a lack of clear guidance/information? (any two)
Wireless operator Jack Phillips missed critical ice warnings from other ships partly because he was overwhelmed sending these types of messages for rich passengers.
What are personal passenger telegrams / private messages?
In the Epilogue, Lord argues the sinking marked "the end of an era" because it destroyed society's unquestioned belief in this.
What is technological invulnerability (or overconfidence in modern technology)?
This structural event occurs to the physical ship just minutes before it plunges entirely underwater at 2:20 AM.
What is the ship breaking in two (or the lights flickering out / stern rising high into the air)?
In Chapter 1, Lord contrasts the subtle, quiet collision with the everyday actions of passengers to show that most people felt this way right after the impact.
What is calm, unconcerned, or unaware of the danger?
Comparing Passage A (Lord's narrative text) and Passage B (the wireless log), Lord's text provides context while the log provides this.
What is objective/factual evidence (or exact historical proof)?
The actions of the band playing on deck, the engineers in the dynamo room, and passengers like Ida Straus staying with her husband reflect this cultural value of 1912.
What is Edwardian duty, chivalry, or self-sacrifice?
This rescue ship arrives at the scene around 4:00 AM to begin picking up survivors from the lifeboats.
What is the Carpathia?