RE 381 Interpretation I: Foundations and Guided Services (F15)

Characterization/Personification Planning Worksheet (CPW)

Kayleigh Coffman
12/2/2015

1. Logistics
a. Location
-Practice Football field behind the Dome.

2. Agency & Audience

a. Name of the Agency.
-Marquette Regional History Center
b. Mission of the Agency.
-We believe the preservation of the cultural and physical history of our area brings an
understanding to the past and present, and provides a guide for the future. The Marquette
Regional History Center not only maintains exhibits, artifacts, and a research library, it is a forum
for engaging the community and creating links between people.
c. Audience.
-3rd and 4th grade students, along with classmates.

3. Interpretive Performance.
-Personification

4. Organization
a. Topic
-The SS Edmund Fitzgerald.
b. Sub-Topic
-The life, death, and history of the Edmund Fitzgerald.
c. Substantive Focus
-Historical/Cultural
d. Theme
-The Edmund Fitzgerald went through a lot in its short life, and is surrounded by mystery to this
day.
e. Goal for the character
-To teach my audience about the Edmund Fitzgeralds life, death, and history.
f. Theme Development Outline.
-The Ship
-729 feet long
-39 feet tall
-First voyage: September 24, 1958
-Final Resting Place: roughly 530 feet beneath the surface of Lake Superior.
-Sinking: November 10, 1975
-Named after Mr. Edmund Fitzgerald, president of Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance
Company.
-Was headed from Superior, Wisconsin to Zug Island on the Detroit River when it sank.
 -Broke its own records for most cargo carried in one year several times in the 17-year
lifespan of the ship.
-Timeline
-February 1, 1957: contract signed between The Great Lakes Engineering Works (GLEW),
and Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company for the GLEW to build the largest ship on the
Great Lakes.
-June 8, 1958: The SS Edmund Fitzgerald is christened, making it the largest freighter
sailing on the Great Lakes.
-September 24, 1958: The Fitz breaks the record for the largest load carried through the
Soo Locks.
-1972: Ernest M. McSorley takes command as Captain of the Fitz.
-November 9, 1975: Fitz is filled with 26,116 tons of taconite pellets.
-November 10, 1975. 1:00 a.m.: Fitz reports winds at 52 knots, and waves at 10 feet in
height.
-November 10, 1975. 7:00 a.m.: Fitz reports winds at 35 knots, waves at 10 feet.
-November 10, 1975. 3:30 p.m.: The Fitz radios the Arthur M. Anderson saying they have
sustained some topside damage, a fence rail is laid down, two vents lost or damaged, and asks
the Anderson to stay by them until they get to Whitefish Bay.
-November 10, 1975. 4:10 p.m.: Fitz radios Anderson requesting radar assistance for the
remainder of the voyage. Anderson agrees and says they will keep them advised of their position.
-November 10, 1975. 4:39 p.m.: Fitz cannot pick up the Whitefish Point radio beacon. The
Fitz radios the emergency channel asking for any information about the beacon and light at
Whitefish Point. The saltwater vessel Avafors responds saying the beacon and light are not
operating.
-November 10, 1975. Between 5:30 and 6:00 p.m.: Fitz reports to Avafors they have lost
both radars and it is one of the worst seas theyve ever been in.
-November 10, 1975. 7:20 p.m.: Anderson calls the Coast Guard to inform them the Fitz
has now been lost on both the radar and visually.
-November 10, 1975. 9:00 p.m.: The Coast Guard radios the Anderson asking for
assistance as there are no rescue boats in the area of the Fitz.
-1976: the song The wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald is released by Gordon Lightfoot.
-May, 1976: The wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald is officially identified.
-The Storm and Final Voyage.
-November is referred to as the month of storms on the Great Lakes. Winds at 45 knots
and waves as high as 35 feet were recorded. Both water pumps on the Fitz were damaged and
the lifeboats were all destroyed by the force of the storm.
-Final voyage was to be 746 miles from Superior, Wisconsin to Zug Island, Detroit. Fitz
sank 17 miles Northwest of Whitefish Bay in Michigan.
-Expeditions to the Fitz
-Many expeditions to the wreckage of the Fitz have taken place in the past 30 years in an
attempt to survey the wreck and shed some light on the cause of the ships demise.
-May 1976: U.S. Coast Guard expedition- Identified the wreck officially as being the Fitz.
Identified by the hull. Coast Guard announced its highly controversial theory that the ship sank
due to faulty hatch covers. This spawned anger from some and disbelief from researchers and
family members of the Fitzs victims.
-September 1980: Calypso expedition- Explored with the help of a two-man submarine.
Not much was figured out about the Fitz, but the group claimed to discover that the ship broke in
 two on the surface and did not sink quickly, though this cannot be verified due to lack of eye
witness accounts.
-August 1989: Remote Operated Vehicle expedition- determination of the cause of
sinking couldnt be made, but other discoveries were made. Glass was still intact in the ship, and
a door on the pilothouse was open suggesting an attempted escape. Also, extensive damage to
the bow was noted claiming it couldnt possible have been due solely to the storm.
-July 25-27 1994: Frederick Shannon Deepquest Expedition- clearest video footage
obtained. This expedition gained fame when it was disclosed that a body was discovered among
the wreckage still wearing a life vest. Series of 7 dives, and on the last dive (7 th) a memorial
plaque was left near the pilothouse.
-1995- Fitzs bell was retrieved by request of many of the Fitz families.
g. Perspective to be used
-I want to tell my audience about the development through time of the Edmund Fitzgerald.
h. Title of your IT
-When the gales of November come early.
i. Details of characters life and setting
a. What is your characters name?
-SS Edmund Fitzgerald, but I go by Fitz.
b. What is your role or occupation?
-The largest freighter ship on the Lakes during my time.
c. Where do you live? (geographic location, kind of residence)
-The bottom of Lake Superior now.
d. What is your social status?
-A tragedy.
e. When were you born? How old are you?
-June 8, 1958. I am 57 years old.
f. Where was your place of birth? (geographic location, hospital/home)
-Superior, Wisconsin
g. What is your economic status?
-Sunk
h. What are your interests or skills?
-breaking records, carrying taconite pellets, bumpin Soo walls.
i. What level is your education, where was it, who taught it?
-n/a
j. What are you wearing?
-my hull
k. What do you own/carry with you every day?
-my crew, and now a family of fish
l. What do you do to make a living?
-carry taconite pellets
m. What are the names and ages of brothers and sisters?
-My sister ships name is Arthur B. Homer. She is 55 years old.
n. Are you married? If yes, how long?
-to my crew and the lake
o. When/where were you married?
-when I was christened on June 8, 1958.
p. Why didnt you marry?
 -n/a
q. What are your childrens names and ages?
-n/a
r. How did you arrive to where you are living now?
-Nobody is quite sure, but it is suspected to be because of the three sisters.
s. What is your health status?
-sunk and rotting
t. What was/is important to your character?
-my crew, the Soo Locks, the divers who have taken expeditions to visit me.
u. What is your voice like (raspy, low, high, accent, etc.)?
-like a captains voice
v. What is your general personality (serious, gruff, silly, etc.)?
-easy going, wanting to tell my story. Reminiscing.
w. What are the issues and perspectives applicable to your character?
-my family (crew) being dead and lost at sea, and their families being heartbroken
because of it. I also get a little chilly because the Lake is so cold.
x. What is the purpose or point of view of the character?
-to transport taconite pellets, and now to provide shelter for various lake critters.
y. Other appropriate and useful information?
-There are many theories about my death.
-My last contact was with Arthur M. Anderson, who followed behind me my whole trip.
-My crews last contact with anyone outside of myself is documented word for word.

5. Delivery
a. Clothing and props needed
-sailor/captains hat, my ship, laptop for the song.
b. Activity or artifact included
-none
c. Sounds and smells/odors for character and setting
-the song the Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald
d. What story will you tell?
-The story of my life, and of my death.
e. Entrance plan
-the group slightly changing location to where I am standing, waiting in the shallow water along
the shore of the lake with the help of my group mates.
f. Exit plan
-The group will move to the next location with the help of my group mates.

6. Involvement
-They will be sitting right on the very shore of Lake Superior, the lake the ship sank in.
-The can feel the water to feel the coldness of it, as the ship sank not even a month previous 40 years
ago.
-Guided imagery- have them close their eyes and imagine the huge waves and the strong winds on the
lake that is right in front of them.

7. Objectives
 a. For you as the interpreter
-To turn in all of my paperwork and assignments for this project on time, especially since Im a
little cramped for time.
b. For your audience.
-One hundred percent of the students will have learned something interesting about the Edmund
Fitzgerald they didnt know before my program, and at least five will raise their hands when I ask
them for an interesting fact they learned about me at the end of my program.

8. Risk/Safety
See next page

9. Accuracy - References
a. Topic references (References for your literature sources for your content information)
- Fitz Timeline. (2000). Retrieved December 2, 2015, from http://www.ssedmundfitzgerald.org/fitz-timeline/
- S.S. Edmund Fitzgerald Online. (2000). Retrieved December 2, 2015, from
http://www.ssedmundfitzgerald.org/
- Fitz Expeditions. (2000). Retrieved December 2, 2015, from
http://www.ssedmundfitzgerald.org/expeditions/
- Ship Profile. (2000). Retrieved December 2, 2015, from http://www.ssedmundfitzgerald.org/the-ship/
- The Storm and Voyage. (2000). Retrieved December 2, 2015, from
http://www.ssedmundfitzgerald.org/storm-and-voyage/
- Theories. (2000). Retrieved December 2, 2015, from http://www.ssedmundfitzgerald.org/theories/
- Gordon Lightfoot Song. (2000). Retrieved December 2, 2015, from
http://www.ssedmundfitzgerald.org/gordon-lightfoot-song/
b. Interpretive process references
- Medina, J. (2015, December 1). Characterization/Personification. Lecture presented at Interpretation 1:
Foundations and Guided Services in Northern Michigan University, Marquette.