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ELA 7th BOY Assessment KMS

Last updated over 3 years ago
11 questions
Today, you will read about Abby Sunderland.. You will read the article “Parents of Rescued Teenage Sailor Accused of Risking Her Life”. Then you will read an Op-ed essay "Ship of Fools" and view the video"Was Abby Too Young to Sail". As you review these sources, you will gather information and answer questions about the authors' points of view and the way they present information so you can answer two short answer questions.
Parents of Rescued Teenage Sailor Abby Sunderland Accused of Risking Her Life

Sailing experts condemn family for allowing 16-year-old American girl to attempt a solo round-the-world voyage

Paul Harris, New YorkThe Observer, June 12, 2010

A teenage girl attempting to sail solo around the world was rescued yesterday in a remote spot of the Indian Ocean, bringing to a successful conclusion the dramatic bid to save her life.
Sixteen-year-old American Abby Sunderland was picked up from her stricken vessel by a dinghy launched from the French fishing boat Ile de la Reunion.
Her father, Laurence Sunderland, speaking to reporters outside their California home, said his daughter was safe and well: “She got out of her vessel with the clothes on her back, and we are just really excited and ecstatic that Abigail is in safe hands. She was in good spirits . . . she talked to her mother.”
However, the same cannot be said of Sunderland’s yacht, Wild Eyes. The vessel was apparently pounded by gigantic waves that had destroyed its mast, which in turn knocked out her satellite communications equipment. The yacht was then effectively left floundering midway between Africa and Australia. It is likely to be allowed to sink.
Sunderland had activated an emergency beacon which started a huge search and rescue operation involving Australia, America, and France. Numerous ships became involved in the hunt, as well as a chartered jet which spotted the teenager late on Thursday. Sunderland was able to radio the plane and report that she was fit and had food and water supplies.
The rescue itself was not without incident as rough seas saw the captain of the French boat fall into the water. He was fished out in difficult conditions, said a statement from the French territory of Reunion Island.
Though the search for Sunderland ended happily, it has caused a debate on the wisdom of such young sailors making dramatic and dangerous journeys. Sunderland was following the achievement of her brother, Zac, who had made the solo journey around the world at the age of 17, becoming the youngest person in the world to do so.
Abby Sunderland on her sailboat Wild Eyes in Ensenada, Mexico, during her attempt at a solo round-the-world voyage
Many critics of Sunderland and her parents have criticized the decision to let her go on such a journey. It’s not something that a 16-year-old should be able to decide whether they’re capable of doing it. It’s potentially irresponsible for the parents, Michael Kalin, junior director of San Francisco’s St Francis Yacht Club, told the
Associated Press.
Other top figures from the world of sailing joined in the criticism. In Abby’s case she was lucky. It’s only a matter of time until we end up with a tragedy on our hands, said Derrick Fries, a world sailing champion and author of Learn to Sail.
Such opinions by professionals have been echoed on blogs and comments on news articles as members of the public have called the Sunderlands irresponsible and careless. One commentator on the Los Angeles Times website summed up the view of many: "Abby Sunderland was on the wrong type of boat (a racing yacht) in the wrong location (the southern Indian Ocean) at the wrong time of year (winter in the southern hemisphere). Other than those minor details, it was a well-planned voyage."
But the family have robustly defended themselves. They have pointed out that Abby is a highly experienced and highly skilled sailor. They have even used the debate to criticize the too-careful tendency of much modern parenting advice and said that a certain amount of risky challenge was healthy for an adventurous child.
"I never questioned my decision in letting her go. In this day and age we get overprotective with our children," Laurence Sunderland said. "Look at how many teenagers die in cars every year. Should we let teenagers drive cars? I think it’d be silly if we didn’t."
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What is the central idea of the online news article, “Parents of Rescued Teenage Sailor...”? (RI.2)

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What evidence from the article best supports this purpose?

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What is the author’s purpose of the online news article?

Ship of Fools

Protecting a 16-year-old sailor, not enabling dangerous dreams, is a parent's responsibility

Joanna Weiss, Globe ColumnistThe Boston Globe, June 15, 2010

"I think it's a parent's job to realize their kids' dreams," Abby Sunderland's father told the Los Angeles Times last winter. This was just before he waved his 16-year-old daughter off on what was to be a six-month voyage alone on a small boat, her effort to become the youngest person to sail around the world nonstop and unassisted.
Here's a proposed rule of thumb: any record that requires more than 10 syllables to explain does not need to be broken. At any rate, Abby did not succeed. A massive storm in the Indian Ocean knocked out her mast, launching a massive international rescue effort. She has since abandoned her 40-foot boat and boarded a French fishing vessel, from where she has resumed her blog.
Actually, she has a panoply of interlinked blogs, set up to track and promote her journey, including one that sold T-shirts and shoes with an "Abby 16" logo. They're flooded now with comments offering gratitude and praise, calling her a role model and an inspiration.
So this is the definition of bravery now? Embarking on unnecessary risk that jeopardizes the lives of rescue workers? When I thought of a 16-year-old bobbing alone in the Indian Ocean, surrounded by 25-foot waves, I didn’t feel inspired. I felt sad. And when I thought about her parents, I felt furious.
Abby's fans would call me a naysayer, I gather from their posts, and tell me I lack a spirit of adventure. And I'll admit that parenthood requires one to overcome a certain intolerance for risk. I can't watch my 5-year-old daughter climb the monkey bars without feeling like I'm going to have a coronary. God knows what I'll do when she starts driving.
But parenthood also requires you to invoke maturity where your child lacks it, whether it s telling her that she's too small to slide down the fireman's pole or that her sailing journey will have to wait until she s old enough to come to her senses. It involves helping her figure out the difference between a dream and a fantasy.
Perhaps someone should have stepped in to impose some parenting standards on the Sunderlands; last summer, a court in the Netherlands stopped a 13-year-old girl from making her own unadvised solo sail. Better yet, we could give up a culture that treats accomplishment as a race and turns risk into its own reward. Abby Sunderland couldn’t drive without a learner s permit, but her journey on the high seas got her fawning press and endorsement deals. Now, some fans on her site have offered their own money to recover her lost boat. One pledged to play an extra $5 a day in the lottery, just in case.
When will he realize he's simply a pawn in the Sunderlands audience-building scheme? From onboard the French fishing vessel, Abby has declared, quelle surprise, that she s writing a book. Her father also disclosed that he's been shopping a reality show with the working title Adventures in Sunderland. (What good fortune this family has, to have a name that lends itself to puns.)
Childhood fame is always some mix of the child s dream and the parents ; so it was with Jessica Dubroff, the 7-year-old who died in 1996, trying to pilot a plane across the country.
With the growing temptations of book deals and TV series, the balance may be shifting even more. We'll surely hear more from Jordan Romero, the 13-year-old who just became the youngest person to climb Mount Everest. We probably haven't heard the last of the Heenes of Colorado, who at least had the sense not to actually put their child inside the Mylar balloon.
But while there's clearly a market for immature stars, we shouldn’t confuse youngest with significant first, and we shouldn’t call these publicity stunts anything but what they are. Abby Sunderland may find a way to convert her misadventures into lingering fame. But while she seems to be a skilled junior sailor, calm in the face of danger, that doesn’t make her a hero. It just makes her very, very lucky.
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What is the main opinion of the author of the essay about Abby’s voyage titled “Ship of Fools”? (RI.3)

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What evidence from the article best supports the above answer?

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How does the author of the essay address the counterargument that parenthood requires some tolerance of risk? (RI.3)

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How does the author of the essay address the counterargument that Abby was a hero? (RI.3)

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In the TV news interview, how did Abby’s brother Zac say he felt when he heard that she was in trouble in the Indian Ocean? (RI.6)

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What information does the TV news interview provide that the online article and the essay cannot? (RI.9)

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How is the purpose of the essay different from the purpose of the online news article? (RI.9, W.9)

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What are some similarities among all three media reports of this event? (RI.9; W.9)