Collections Grade 7 Guiding Questions Collection 6

“from Flesh & Blood So Cheap: The Triangle Fire and Its Legacy” by Albert Marrin

Read the selection from the history writing Flesh & Blood So Cheap: The Triangle Fire and Its Legacy by Albert Marrin. Then, reread the lines indicated with each question below. Answer each question, citing text evidence.

1. Lines 1–30: What is the main activity on each of the three floors? What details reveal the danger of fire on each floor? On the eighth floor, the cutters cut lightweight cotton fabric called lawn, which "burned as easily as gasoline". On the ninth floor, workers sewed the fabric using machines on tables so close together that there was "only a narrow aisle" between rows. On the tenth floor, the shirtwaists were inspected, packed and shipped. The tenth floor "also held the showroom and owner´s offices."
2. Lines 40–44: Which details show the author interpreting his research?
3. Lines 45–71: Summarize this section by stating the main idea of each paragraph in a sentence.
4. Lines 89–96: What are especially vivid descriptive details in this paragraph? Why does the author include those details?
5. Lines 100–104: What do Mary Bucelli’s words reveal about the situation?
6. Lines 120–125: What is the reason why the ninth-floor stairway was locked?
7. Lines 130–132: What does the detail “lapping in” help readers understand?
8. Lines 152–177: Determine what each paragraph is mainly about, and state each main idea in a sentence.
9. Lines 182–196: Why did the author include this excerpt?
10. Lines 207–219: Summarize the most important information about the fire escape.
11. Lines 223–239: Which sentence states the main idea in this passage? What details support that idea?
12. Lines 254–265: What details describe Chief Croker? Why does the author include them?