1. Quickwrite  Define what you think it means to be a hero.  List some people whom you regard as heroes and briefly explain why.

2. Background The disaster described in this essay occurred on January 13, 1982. Washington, D.C. was blanketed in wet snow flurries when Air Florida Flight 90 took off from Washington National Airport. Just after takeoff the plane hit the Fourteenth Street Bridge, crushed five cars and tipped over a truck, and then crashed into the Potomac River. Seventy-eight people died, including four motorists. Of the seventy–nine people aboard the plane, only five survived – four passengers and one flight attendant. The probable cause of the accident was ice on the plane’s wings. The disaster described in this essay occurred on January 13, 1982. Washington, D.C. was blanketed in wet snow flurries when Air Florida Flight 90 took off from Washington National Airport. Just after takeoff the plane hit the Fourteenth Street Bridge, crushed five cars and tipped over a truck, and then crashed into the Potomac River. Seventy-eight people died, including four motorists. Of the seventy–nine people aboard the plane, only five survived – four passengers and one flight attendant. The probable cause of the accident was ice on the plane’s wings.

3. Air Florida Flight 90

5. The Man in the Water By Roger Rosenblatt

6. Personal Essay  Informal and varied  Essay writers take a subject and examine it from different perspectives.  The essay reflects the writer’s thoughts, feelings, attitudes and opinions.