Part one Chapter 1 Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage by Lansing. Lit term-Symbol

The story immediately throws the reader into the evacuation and downfall of the ship, Endurance. The atmosphere is somber and the crew is horror-stricken that their beloved ship and home has finally fallen. The author touches base with the thoughts of the men of the crew as they unload the Endurance's hull of all the essential gear they need to survive upon the ice floes. The chapter wraps up with the boat's captain, Ernest Shackleton, planning their next move in their effort for survival.

A powerful quote comes at the end of the chapter when Shackleton is set on heading toward Paulet Island, the nearest known place with shelter and food. "There, in 1903, twelve years before, the crew of a Swedish ship had spent the winter after their vessel, the Antarctic, had been crushed by the Weddell Sea ice. The ship...deposited its stock of stores on Paulet Island for use of any later castaways. Ironically, it was Shackleton himself who had been commissioned ...to purchase those stores--and now, a dozen years later, it was he who needed them" This point in the story sums up the misfortune that Shackleton and his men must have been experiencing during those dark hours after their ship had been abandoned.

The Lit term I chose was symbol, the ship Endurance being that symbol. The ship was a symbol of home, of civilization, of safety. Without that structure, the men were released into the wild Antarctic as savages. From this point on, the was no saftey net for these men, their was only themselves, eachother, and ice.