Text Complexity Analysis of
Spirit of Endurance (title)
byJennifer Armstrong (author)
Recommended Complexity Band: 5.0-6.0
Text Description
Briefly describe the text:
In August 1914, Sir Ernest Shackleton set out from England in an attempt to lead the first expedition across the Antarctic continent. What followed was one of the most extraordinary survival stories in history: a ship trapped and then wrecked by ice; an expedition marooned, first on the constantly shifting Antarctic pack, then on a remote, uninhabited island; a daring open boat journey across the world's most violent ocean; a trek over unmapped mountains; and finally an amazing rescue.
Qualitative Measures
Meaning/Purpose: (Briefly explain the levels of meaning (Literary Text) or purpose (Informational text)
Moderately Complex: more the one levels clearly distinguished from each other. The theme is clear. The overall theme was having determination and the will to survive while the subtheme can include overcoming obstacles, wisdom of experience, being optimistic.
Page 408: “If the Endurance does have to, well, get left behind, we will manage, somehow…”
Page 408: “We shall hang on as long as we can.”
Page 411: “The crew worked without a break..”
Page 411: “Their survival would depend on saving everything that might come in handy.”
Page 411: “If they were going to survive, they would have to rescue themselves…”
Page 411: “When Shackleton told the men in the morning what lay ahead of them, they reacted calmly…”
Page 413: “The going was though…”
Page 415: “At the limit of their strength…”
Text Structure: (Briefly describe the structure, organization, and other features of the text)
Moderately Complex: Organization (largely explicit connections between ideas; generally follows the conventions of the genre)
Page 408: “The weather outside Endurance’s cozy cabins was terrible.”
Page 409: “On some days, it rammed the ship so sharply that it knocked books and tools and equipment off shelves and made the masts tremble like twigs.”
Page 409: “The timbers began to buckle and snap.”
Page 411: “Luckily, the destruction of Endurance happened in slow motion.”
Page 418: “Months of poor nutrition and inactivity had left them in no shape for a rugged hike.”
Page 420: “There was stunned silence…”
Use of graphics: Middle High. The images, captions, and map greatly enhanced reader’s understanding of content.
Page 409: Visual: Crew playing chess during a nightwatch
Page 410: Visual: Endurance with frost
Page 412-413: Visual: Dragging Endurance’s lifeboats across the ice.
Page 417: Visual: a ship with two masts
Page 419: Visual: Camp Wild
Language Features: (Briefly describe the conventions and clarity of the language used in the text, including the complexity of the vocabulary and sentence structures.)
Conventionality: Moderately Complex, Vocabulary: moderately complex, sentence structure: very complex
Expedition, frigid, treacherous, triumph, abandon, masts, tremble, dismounted, dogloos, jumbled, uninhabited,
Knowledge Demands: (Briefly describe the knowledge demands the text requires of students.)
Subject Matter Knowledge: Moderately complex.
Conditions in Antarctica, weather conditions, sailing, exploration, walking on glaciers/ice, how explorers communicate without current technologies
Intertextuality: Moderately Complex, few references or allusions to other texts or outside ideas, theories, etc.
Page 408: photograph of members of Endurance.
Page 410: photograph of Endurance
Page 411: Captain Frank Worsley’s logbook
Quantitative Measure
Complexity Band Level (provide range):
6.1
Lexile or Other Quantitative Measure of the Text:
790L
Considerations for Reader and Task
Below are factors to consider with respect to the reader and task (See attached guiding questions to assist each teacher in filling out this section for his or her own class):
Potential Challenges this Text Poses:
Preview phrases, background about weather, exploration, sailing.
MajorInstructional Areas of Focus (3-4 CCS Standards) for this Text:
RL 5.1: Quote accurately from a text when explaining what the text says explicitly and when drawing inferences from the text.
RL 5.2: Determine a theme of a story; summarize the text.
RL 5.3: Compare and contrast two or more characters, settings, or events in a text.
RL 5.4: Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative language.
Word bank, audio support, leveled summary, re-read for different purpose, cultural and historical knowledge, front load vocabulary, explore parts of a ship
Recommended Placemat: Briefly explain the recommended placement of the text in a particular grade band.
We recommend this selection for the middle or end of fifth grade. The text may pose around the theme of exploration, survival, and geographical knowledge. Students will need to be exposed with prior knowledge around theme and content. It also would be important to have taught main idea, problem solving, inferences, and being able to visualize details. Motivation and engagement will be important to plan for as well.
Created by:Reviewed by: