The Fire-Breather

Essential questions: What sparks invention? What are the effects of racism? How can we overcome obstacles?

Preview vocabulary. (3 minutes)

Project our Words to Know Vocabulary Slideshow and go through the words and the activity as a class. Highlighted words: ambitious, ingenious, insatiable, menace, promotion, reluctant, tonic

Read the “The Fire-Breather” as a class. Then discuss the following.

Close-Reading Questions

• Why did Garrett Morgan move to Cleveland in 1895? (key ideas, inference) Morgan moved to Cleveland because the South, where Morgan was from, was segregated and offered few opportunities for a black man like Morgan (p. 26). You can infer that Morgan moved north to Cleveland in search of opportunity.
• On page 26, Tod Olson writes that Morgan had the gift of a “curious mind.” How does Olson develop this idea throughout the article? (key ideas and details, character) Olson develops the idea that Morgan had a “curious mind” starting with the statement that Morgan liked to take things apart and put them back together again to see how they worked (p. 26). Olson further develops the idea when he explains that at Morgan’s first job in Cleveland, he used his spare time teaching himself to fix the factory’s sewing machines (p. 26). The information that Morgan invented a hair tonic, a fire hood, and a traffic light also develops the idea. In addition, on page 28, Olson states that Morgan read National Geographic and hired tutors for himself.
• Also on page 26, Olson calls Morgan’s gas mask “an invention the world desperately needed.” How is this statement supported? (key ideas and details) Olson supports his statement that Morgan’s gas mask was “desperately needed” by explaining that at the time, firefighters had no way of protecting themselves from smoke and fumes and would suffocate trying to rescue people. The caption on page 27 also supports the statement with the example of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire, in which 146 people died.
• What details show you that the men gathered at the accident site in Cleveland had little faith that Morgan’s safety hood would work? (text evidence, inference) The detail that the mayor shook Morgan’s hand and “said simply, ‘Goodbye,’ as though he did not expect to see Morgan again,” (p. 28) and the detail that only three people volunteered to enter the tunnel with Morgan show that the men at the accident site had little faith in Morgan’s safety hood.
• “The college of hard knocks” is an idiom that refers to the knowledge you gain not through formal education but from life—in particular, from life’s difficulties or disappointments. On page 28, Morgan is quoted as writing, “I have a Ph.D. from the college of hard knocks.” What do you think Morgan meant? (figurative language, inference) A Ph.D. is an advanced degree that you receive only after many years of study; Morgan may have meant that he faced many challenges in his life and learned much from them.

As a class, read “Could You Be the Next Garrett Morgan?” Then answer the following question.

Close-Reading Question

• The subheading says “7 qualities of a successful entrepreneur.” What is an entrepreneur? What context clues could help you figure this out? Explain. (vocabulary in context) An entrepreneur is someone who starts a business, taking on risks to do so. The reference to Morgan in the headline is one clue to this; from “The Fire-Breather,” you know Morgan ran his own business. Another clue is that all the people mentioned in “Could You Be the Next Garrett Morgan?” started businesses.

Answer the following critical-thinking questions, which refer to both texts.

Critical-Thinking Questions

• Page 27 explains that at demonstrations of his hood, Morgan often posed as the white salesman’s Native American assistant, “Big Chief” Mason. What does this help you understand about attitudes toward black people, white people, and Native American people in the early 1900s? Olson explains that Morgan hid his identity as the inventor of the hood because many white people were reluctant to do business with a black man. You can infer that white people’s attitudes were less negative toward Native Americans, but that in general, white people were biased in favor of white people. (Otherwise, Morgan could have posed as a Native American salesman rather than as an assistant.) At the same time, the nickname “Big Chief” caricatures Native Americans and suggests that many people were disrespectful of Native Americans at the time.
• What might be some of the pros and cons of being an entrepreneur? Ideas of pros may include that it’s exciting to start something new; it’s rewarding; it’s good to be in charge; your life is creative and interesting; you would not get bored; you might become rich and/or famous; you could make a real difference in the world. Ideas of cons may include that you risk losing a lot of money; you may face rejection; your job might take over your life; if things go wrong, it’s your responsibility to fix them; there aren’t any guarantees for success.

Distribute the activity Analyzing Garrett Morgan’s Success for students to complete independently. It will prepare them to respond to the prompt on page 29. For alternative culminating tasks, see the boxes below.