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Blackbeard’s Ghost
by Jed Alexander
This passage tells the story of a young boy who desperately wants to be a sailor. However, no boats will accept him, so he decides to stow away on board of a ship called the Freedom before they take off.
As you read, pay attention to the perspective of the narrator of the passage.
I had approached the captain of every ship in Boston Harbor but the Freedom, and for good reason. The ship looked barely seaworthy, but her captain was the only one who had yet to turn me down.
“Don’t need a cabin boy,” he said, his looks hard, but his manner not unkindly.
“I will work hard, sir,” I said.
“Does your father have a trade?”
“My father was a sailor, but he died at sea before I had chance to know him.”
“Are you so anxious to follow in yer father’s fate? You would be doing your mother an awful turn if she lost a son as well as ah’usband. Be a good boy and go home and take care a’ your widowed mother,” the captain said. “Find some other work ta which yer better suited.”
I wasn’t about to tell the captain that my mother shared his sentiment. Though she forbade it, I was too stubborn to listen and had announced that, by day’s end, I would have a position as a cabin boy on a great merchant ship.
I walked home with heavy steps, ashamed to face my mother with my failure. Then the lie escaped my mouth before I could consider it. “I’ve gained the position of cabin boy aboard the Freedom,” I declared.
“You had no business to do it,” my mother said with bitterness.
“‘Tis already done,” I said.
“Well, if you’re to be so determined, I can’t keep you any more than I could your father,” my mother said, tears in her eyes. “But if you are lost at sea, I will ne’er forgive ya’.”
I gave her my sincerest promise, and before I knew it, had packed up my kit, kissed my mother on the cheek, and headed off toward the harbor for a position I didn’t have on a vessel that wouldn’t have me.
And why did I choose the Freedom, the most poorly ship in the yard? The only answer I can venture is that the captain, more than any other and despite his discouragements, had spoken to me like an adult would to another adult rather than how an adult would to a child. So, knowing nothing of the true character of her crew or her captain, I decided to stow away on the Freedom, and if I had picked any other ship in the harbor, my fortunes would be less dreadful to tell.
___
Adapted from Blackbeard’s Ghost, by Jed Alexander, ©️️ by Cricket Media, Inc. Reproduced with permission.
Questions
“Then the lie escaped my mouth before I could consider it. ‘I’ve gained the position of cabin boy aboard the Freedom,’ I declared.”
How does the narrator’s perspective in this excerpt impact the story?
The first-person narrator describes events from their own perspective, so readers know that they are lying about getting a job on the Freedom.
The narrator has a first-person perspective, so readers know they are terrified to join the Freedom as a cabin boy and regret their decision.
The first-person narrator describes the Freedom’s captain as gruff, so readers understand why the narrator dislikes working for him.
The narrator’s third-person omniscient perspective gives readers a glimpse into the thoughts of the main character and their mother.
Show Hint
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Activating this element will cause an extra tools region to appear
Scroll Up
Blackbeard’s Ghost
by Jed Alexander
This passage tells the story of a young boy who desperately wants to be a sailor. However, no boats will accept him, so he decides to stow away on board of a ship called the Freedom before they take off.
As you read, pay attention to the perspective of the narrator of the passage.
I had approached the captain of every ship in Boston Harbor but the Freedom, and for good reason. The ship looked barely seaworthy, but her captain was the only one who had yet to turn me down.
“Don’t need a cabin boy,” he said, his looks hard, but his manner not unkindly.
“I will work hard, sir,” I said.
“Does your father have a trade?”
“My father was a sailor, but he died at sea before I had chance to know him.”
“Are you so anxious to follow in yer father’s fate? You would be doing your mother an awful turn if she lost a son as well as ah’usband. Be a good boy and go home and take care a’ your widowed mother,” the captain said. “Find some other work ta which yer better suited.”
I wasn’t about to tell the captain that my mother shared his sentiment. Though she forbade it, I was too stubborn to listen and had announced that, by day’s end, I would have a position as a cabin boy on a great merchant ship.
I walked home with heavy steps, ashamed to face my mother with my failure. Then the lie escaped my mouth before I could consider it. “I’ve gained the position of cabin boy aboard the Freedom,” I declared.
“You had no business to do it,” my mother said with bitterness.
“‘Tis already done,” I said.
“Well, if you’re to be so determined, I can’t keep you any more than I could your father,” my mother said, tears in her eyes. “But if you are lost at sea, I will ne’er forgive ya’.”
I gave her my sincerest promise, and before I knew it, had packed up my kit, kissed my mother on the cheek, and headed off toward the harbor for a position I didn’t have on a vessel that wouldn’t have me.
And why did I choose the Freedom, the most poorly ship in the yard? The only answer I can venture is that the captain, more than any other and despite his discouragements, had spoken to me like an adult would to another adult rather than how an adult would to a child. So, knowing nothing of the true character of her crew or her captain, I decided to stow away on the Freedom, and if I had picked any other ship in the harbor, my fortunes would be less dreadful to tell.
___
Adapted from Blackbeard’s Ghost, by Jed Alexander, ©️️ by Cricket Media, Inc. Reproduced with permission.
Questions
“Then the lie escaped my mouth before I could consider it. ‘I’ve gained the position of cabin boy aboard the Freedom,’ I declared.”
How does the narrator’s perspective in this excerpt impact the story?
The first-person narrator describes events from their own perspective, so readers know that they are lying about getting a job on the Freedom.
The narrator has a first-person perspective, so readers know they are terrified to join the Freedom as a cabin boy and regret their decision.
The first-person narrator describes the Freedom’s captain as gruff, so readers understand why the narrator dislikes working for him.
The narrator’s third-person omniscient perspective gives readers a glimpse into the thoughts of the main character and their mother.
Show Hint
Answers
Answered by
GPT-5 mini
The first choice.
Because the story is told in first person, the narrator directly reveals their own thoughts and actions (including admitting, “Then the lie escaped my mouth…”), so readers know the narrator lied about getting the cabin‑boy position. The other options are incorrect—(2) overstates emotion not shown, (3) misreads the captain’s portrayal, and (4) is wrong about the point of view.
Because the story is told in first person, the narrator directly reveals their own thoughts and actions (including admitting, “Then the lie escaped my mouth…”), so readers know the narrator lied about getting the cabin‑boy position. The other options are incorrect—(2) overstates emotion not shown, (3) misreads the captain’s portrayal, and (4) is wrong about the point of view.
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