EN107 Lecture Notes - Lecture 3: Muster Drill, Binoculars
Document Summary
Poetic responses to complex catastrophe in the early. What really makes something worst is not the event itself but what people think about the event. That involves culture, which concerns what people think and believe. (clarke 16) regarding the lusitania 1915. Did not get as much publicity as the titanic; was. Was especially useful in politics especially regarding torpedoed by germans. A complex disaster results from several different hazards, or, more often, a complex combination of both natural and human-made causes and different causes of vulnerability. Technological catastrophe: poor watertight compartments, single-sided hull, rivets of questionable quality/strength, insufficient number of lifeboats. Human error: wireless operator, pressure of making a fast run, binoculars missing, insufficient look-out, frantic manoeuvers and lack of lifeboat drill. Retrospective: doesn"t tell us drama of the sinking but all happens after the ship has sunk. Does this poem offer consolation in the face of loss (it"s not clear cut)
