1. from 102 Minutes Nonfiction And of Clay Are We Created Short Story
Feature Menu
Introducing the Story
Literary Skills Focus: The Aesthetic Approach—Comparing Across Genres
Reading Skills Focus: Making Generalizations
Writing Skills Focus: Think as a Reader/Writer

2. from 102 Minutes/And of Clay Are We Created
In the event of a disaster, what makes people willing to help strangers?

3. from 102 Minutes/And of Clay Are We Created Introducing the Story
Click on the title to start the video.

4. from 102 Minutes/And of Clay Are We Created Introducing the Story
What happens when the sky crashes down . . .
and buries you alive?

5. from 102 Minutes/And of Clay Are We Created Introducing the Story
Who will risk his or her life . . .
to save yours?
[End of Section]

6. from 102 Minutes/And of Clay Are We Created Literary Skills Focus:
The Aesthetic Approach—Comparing Across Genres
What’s your favorite genre of movie?
Action?
Comedy?
Animé?

7. from 102 Minutes/And of Clay Are We Created Literary Skills Focus:
The Aesthetic Approach—Comparing Across Genres
The works of writers belong to different genres, or types of literature, too.
Authors write all kinds of literature—short stories, novels, plays, poems, and nonfiction.
Different genres call for different writing styles.

8. from 102 Minutes/And of Clay Are We Created Literary Skills Focus:
The Aesthetic Approach—Comparing Across Genres
Works from different genres can also have similarities.
In the selections, you’ll see how two writers explore similar subjects in very different genres.
FICTION
(short story)
And of Clay . . .
from 102 Minutes
NONFICTION
(book excerpt)
A reporter struggles to save a girl buried in mud.
An ex-paramedic tries to save a father buried in rubble.

9. from 102 Minutes/And of Clay Are We Created Literary Skills Focus:
The Aesthetic Approach—Comparing Across Genres
As you read the selections, think about how the styles of the two genres differ, as well as about how they are alike.
details
tone
images
mood
word choice
irony

10. from 102 Minutes/And of Clay Are We Created Literary Skills Focus:
The Aesthetic Approach—Comparing Across Genres
Here are some important differences in style that you may notice:
A fiction writer is more likely to use
A journalist is more likely to stick to
symbolism
figurative language
concrete details
objective statements
However, that doesn’t mean that all news features are boring.

11. from 102 Minutes/And of Clay Are We Created Literary Skills Focus:
The Aesthetic Approach—Comparing Across Genres
Just like fiction writers, journalists often keep their readers engaged by
creating suspense
bringing characters to life
choosing words carefully
crafting vivid images
setting a tone and mood

12. from 102 Minutes/And of Clay Are We Created Literary Skills Focus:
The Aesthetic Approach—Comparing Across Genres
What elements of style do you see in this passage?
Sereika could hear 4 World Trade Center groaning to its bones. To shift large pieces off Jimeno risked starting a new slide. There was room in the hole only for one person at a time, and Sereika was basically on top of him. It was not unlike working under the dashboard of a car, except the engine was on fire and the car was speeding and about to crash. The space was filled with smoke.
From "Epilogue" from 102 Minutes: The Untold Story of the Fight to Survive inside the Twin Towers by Jim Dwyer and Kevin Flynn. Copyright © 2005 by Jim Dwyer and Kevin Flynn. Reproduced by permission of Henry Holt and Company, LLC and electronic format by permission of SLL/Sterling Lord Literistic, Inc.
[End of Section]

13. from 102 Minutes/And of Clay Are We Created Reading Skills Focus: Making Generalizations
A generalization is a broad statement that is based on details from the text.
Different genres require you to make different kinds of generalizations about the writer’s work. 13

14. from 102 Minutes/And of Clay Are We Created Reading Skills Focus: Making Generalizations
With nonfiction writing, we try to discover the author’s purpose, or reason, for writing.
Does the author want
to inform?
to persuade?
Why is the author so fascinated with the subject?
to entertain?

15. newspaper editorial about environmental issue
from 102 Minutes/And of Clay Are We Created Reading Skills Focus: Making Generalizations
A writer may have many purposes for writing, but one purpose usually becomes the focus.
newspaper editorial about environmental issue
informs readers about the issue
entertains readers with humor
persuades readers to support a particular position on the issue

16. To figure out an author’s purpose, ask yourself,
from 102 Minutes/And of Clay Are We Created Reading Skills Focus: Making Generalizations
To figure out an author’s purpose, ask yourself,
What is the author trying to say?
Is this a new concept or point of view?
What effect does reading this have on me? 16

17. from 102 Minutes/And of Clay Are We Created Reading Skills Focus: Making Generalizations
A fiction writer also has a purpose, but usually we try to make generalizations about the work’s theme, or message about life.
message or lessons about life does the writer want to convey?
WHAT . . .
did the writer choose to tell the story in this way?
WHY . . .

18. from 102 Minutes/And of Clay Are We Created Reading Skills Focus: Making Generalizations
Into Action: As you read, complete a chart like the one below for each selection. Note how the writers explore similar subjects in different genres.
from 102 Minutes
Figures of Speech
Details
Images
Key Statements
[End of Section]

19. Record these images in a notebook.
from 102 Minutes/And of Clay Are We Created Writing Skills Focus: Think as a Reader/Writer
Find It in Your Reading
As you read, look for imagery (language that appeals to our senses) that you find powerful.
Record these images in a notebook.
[End of Section] 19

20. Vocabulary

21. from 102 Minutes/And of Clay Are We Created Vocabulary
extricate v.: set free; release.
And of Clay Are We Created
tenacity n.: stubborn persistence and determination.
equanimity n.: calmness; composure.
resignation n.: passive acceptance; submission.

22. from 102 Minutes/And of Clay Are We Created Vocabulary
The word extricate means “to remove, disentangle, or free with difficulty.”
A team of rescuers attempted to extricate my aunt from her pickup truck after it slid off the icy road. 22

23. from 102 Minutes/And of Clay Are We Created Vocabulary
It was a challenge to extricate ourselves from the weekend choir practice because _____
. . . Mrs. Kwon, our choir director, is very strict.

24. from 102 Minutes/And of Clay Are We Created Vocabulary
Tenacity is another word for stubbornness, obstinacy, and persistence.
The long-distance runner’s tenacity compelled her to finish the race. 24

25. from 102 Minutes/And of Clay Are We Created Vocabulary
Which face do you think displays more tenacity?

26. from 102 Minutes/And of Clay Are We Created Vocabulary
Equanimity is used to describe a person who shows calmness or composure.
Jorge displayed a cool equanimity during the heated exchanges of the debate. 26

27. from 102 Minutes/And of Clay Are We Created Vocabulary
Equanimity is another way to say
poise
self-control
tranquility
composure
serenity
calmness
level-headedness 27

28. from 102 Minutes/And of Clay Are We Created Vocabulary
Resignation is another word for submission, acquiescence, or passive acceptance.
The trauma nurse showed no signs of resignation as she worked to save the injured young girl.

29. from 102 Minutes/And of Clay Are We Created Vocabulary
Which of the following words is the opposite of resignation?
a. surrender
b. credence
c. defiance
[End of Section]

30. The End

31. QuickWrite

32. from 102 Minutes/And of Clay Are We Created
QuickWrite
Think of true stories you have heard about people who, facing danger and death, risked their own safety and well-being to help others.
Why do some people reach out to save others? Why do other people look out only for themselves?
Write down your thoughts.
[End of Section]

33. Meet the Writers

34. from 102 Minutes Meet the Writers
Jim Dwyer, a native New Yorker and the son of Irish immigrants, currently writes for The New York Times. In 1995, as a reporter for Newsday, he was awarded a Pulitzer Prize for Commentary for his compassionate writing about New York City.
Kevin Flynn is also an award-winning reporter. Like Dwyer, he is from New York City and works for The New York Times. Flynn was serving as a police bureau chief for the Times on September 11, 2001.

35. And of Clay Are We Created Meet the Writer
Isabel Allende describes herself as a “good listener and a story hunter” who reads newspapers in search of story ideas.
Born in Peru, Allende moved to Chile with her mother when Isabel was three years old. She eventually became a journalist. When her uncle, Salvador Allende, the president of Chile, was killed in 1973, Allende and her husband and children fled to Venezuela. They lived in exile there for thirteen years before moving to the United States.
More about the writer
[End of Section]

36. Build Background

37. from 102 Minutes Build Background
On September 11, 2001, terrorists hijacked four airplanes and crashed two of them into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York City.
For their book, reporters Jim Dwyer and Kevin Flynn later interviewed rescuers and survivors. The excerpt describes the terrifying situation of two members of the Port Authority Police Department that day.

38. And of Clay Are We Created
Build Background
On November 13, 1985, the Nevado del Ruiz volcano erupted in the country of Colombia in South America. Omayra Sánchez, a thirteen-year-old girl trapped in the mud, became the focus of media attention.
Allende uses these facts as the basis for her work of fiction. In her story, the trapped girl is named Azucena, and the man who tries to rescue her is journalist Rolf Carlé.
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39. Preview the Selections

40. from 102 Minutes Preview the Selection
In the excerpt from 102 Minutes, police officers Will Jimeno and John McLoughlin are trapped under rubble during the 2001 terrorist attack on the World Trade Center in New York City.
David Karnes, a former Marine, and Chuck Sereika, a former emergency medical worker, come to their rescue.

41. And of Clay Are We Created
Preview the Selection
In the short story “And of Clay Are We Created,” Azucena, a thirteen-year-old girl trapped in a mudslide, struggles to survive while Rolf Carlé, a TV news reporter, attempts to rescue her.
[End of Section] 41