WorksheetPremium

One Stairwell, a Region in Darkness

Compare an original story set during the 1965 blackout with a historical account, examining invented details and selective focus.

Grade 7ELAInteractive · Printable

Aligned toRL.7.9

Buy this worksheet: $1.50

Or unlock every Premium worksheet with Premium

PrintUnlock to print

Answer keyUnlock to see answers

Assign to classUnlock to assign with a class code

What’s included

Single worksheet
Auto-graded online
1 Common Core standard
Printable answer key
12 questions
Classroom-ready

Details

Format: Interactive · Printable
Grade: Grade 7
Subject: ELA
Question types: Multiple choice, Matching, Circle the answer, Short answer

About this worksheet

What students practice

Students compare a fictional portrayal of the 1965 blackout with a historical account.
Students distinguish historical conditions from invented experiences and unsupported conclusions.
Students explain how a fictional narrator's limited view shapes the portrayal of history.

How to use

Have students read both texts, then answer using only the evidence provided. Discuss how historical fiction can preserve facts while narrowing the reader's view.

Curriculum

Common Core standard covered

RL.7.9

Compare a fictional portrayal of a time, place, or character with a historical account to see how fiction uses or changes history.

Preview

OwlSheets.com

Name Date

One Stairwell, a Region in Darkness

Compare an imagined apartment-building experience with a historical account.

Read the two texts

Text A is original historical fiction. Text B is a historical account written for this worksheet. Paragraph numbers restart in each text.

Text A: The Landing Between Floors

1On November 9, 1965, I was carrying a bowl of rice down our New York City apartment hallway when the ceiling lights went out. The elevator stopped humming. From somewhere below came the scrape of a door and then a question nobody answered. I stood still, holding dinner as if it were something breakable. My name is Dalia, and until that evening, I had hardly spoken to anyone beyond our floor.

2My older cousin Kenji found me with a flashlight. Together we went down to the landing, where Mrs. Velez sat beside her grocery bag. She had climbed six flights before deciding the potatoes could wait. Kenji offered to carry the bag. I wanted to return upstairs, but Mrs. Velez asked whether I could hold the flashlight steady. It seemed a small enough job to accept.

3At her doorway, a battery-powered radio crackled through an announcer's report: the failure extended far beyond our building. Mrs. Velez turned down the volume. The radio antenna leaned against a folded newspaper. A white cup stood beside the set. I stared at the dark window, trying to imagine how many other windows looked like ours.

4We returned to the stairs and found a boy trying to read the floor numbers by touch. His grandmother lived two floors above us. I offered the flashlight, but he asked me to come along. Soon I was guiding him while Kenji followed with the groceries. At each landing, someone opened a door. Names traveled up and down the stairs faster than our feet.

5Our hallway lights returned late that night. Kenji cheered, but I kept the flashlight pointed at the steps until the boy reached his grandmother's door. From our window I could see several bright windows across the street. I decided the whole city must be lit again. Then Mrs. Velez called us back for our cooling rice, and I realized that tomorrow I would know which door to knock on.

Text B: The Northeast Blackout of 1965

1On the evening of November 9, 1965, a major electrical failure affected parts of the northeastern United States and Ontario, Canada. New York City was among the places that lost power. The interruption began during the evening rush, when many people were traveling home from work. Although people experienced the darkness locally, the failure involved a connected electrical system extending across a large region.

2The blackout began with a protective device on a transmission line in Ontario. Such devices are intended to protect electrical equipment when conditions become unsafe. In this case, a device operated at a setting that did not fit the conditions on the line. Power shifted onto other lines, which also disconnected. This chain of events spread through the interconnected system. The failure was not simply the result of one apartment building using too much electricity.

3In New York City, electric elevators stopped, leaving some passengers trapped until they could be helped out. Subway service was disrupted, and traffic signals went dark. People in tall buildings faced stairs instead of working elevators. Battery-powered radios offered a way to hear reports without household electricity. These effects made an electrical-system failure a practical problem involving travel, communication, and access to homes.

4Experiences differed from place to place and from person to person. Some people helped strangers or checked on neighbors. Others waited in stalled transportation or tried to reach home. A scene of cooperation in one hallway could represent a real kind of response without representing everyone's experience. Historical accounts must look beyond any single witness to describe the event's wider effects.

5Electricity returned in stages as workers restored the system. Some places regained service during the night, while others waited until the following morning. Light in one building did not establish that an entire city had power again. A historical account can compare reports from different locations; a person looking through one window could observe only a small part of the recovery.

The preview shows the first questions. Unlock the worksheet to see all of it.