A Pearl in the Storm, by Tori Murden

Reader Response Journal

Chapter 1-2

a. Text-to-self: “About a dozen of friends had traveled from my hometown of Louisville, Kentucky- home of all great ocean rowers-to see me off” (9).

Connection: I felt I sense of connection to Tori Murden McClure because we are both from the Bluegrass State. By both of us being from Kentucky, I better understood her background and how she was brought up when she was younger. I know the history and traditional values of a Kentuckian.

b. In the introduction of the book, Tori uses imagery to depict how her personality and emotion are like. For example, “If I charted a map of my life, I would have placed romance of the far side of and unexplored ocean, where ships would drop off the edge of the world and the legend at that edge of the map would read, ‘Here there be sea monsters’” (7). I love how Tori uses the ocean full of sea monsters to exemplify how extremely rare she associates herself with romance. This imagery allows the reader to connect and better comprehend how Tori feels about love and it gives insight to what her journey may have been like.

c. Kevlar (10) - synthetic fiber that is often used as a reinforcing agent in tire and other rubber products. I is made up of high tensile strength.

Ballast (10) - heavy material that is placed low in vessels to improve stability. Ex: iron, gravel, and lead

Diminutive (11) - extremely small

Encumber (12) – restrict/burden so that movement is difficult

Accentuated (13) – to make something more noticeable

Flotilla (14) – fleet of ships

Loll (40) – sit, lie, or in a relaxed way

d. A Pearl in the Storm starts with the introduction to the background to Tori Murden McClure’s, the author, personality. The reader learns that she is from Louisville, Kent...

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... the phone to marry her and he says sure. As she approached land she drifted in the night by 15 miles but the next day she made it and rejoiced with her friends. Afterward, she goes to a dinner with Thor Heyerdahl. She asks why his rowed across the Atlantic. He responded who would solo row across the Atlantic unless the want fame. He says Tori needs to face her achievement.

e. The final chapters represent the resolution of the story. Tori finally solo rowed across the Atlantic Ocean and I married not.

f. My favorite line in the book is: “If you didn’t want to be known as the woman who rowed the boat, you shouldn’t have rowed that boat" (319). This statement is so true. We do thing so that we can be known for it. We humans do not just do tasks for nothing we all have ultimate goal. If you want to be known for something, go out and do it.