Write a diary entry for the minute the Titanic leaves the dock, by a child at the rail who has never seen the sea.Fact: the Titanic set sail from Southampton at 12:15 on April 10, 1912, bound for New York.
A wireless operator on the Titanic taps out passengers' greetings all day; write the message he enjoys sending most.Fact: the Titanic's wireless room ran 24 hours a day, mostly sending and receiving passenger telegrams.
A first-class ticket on the Titanic cost several times a third-class one. Should what you pay ever change how safe you are? Argue it.Fact: the cheapest first-class fare on the Titanic was £23; a third-class fare was £7 5s.
A Belfast shipyard worker reads that the Titanic has sailed; write what he tells his family at supper about building it.Fact: the Titanic was built in Belfast and launched on May 31, 1911. Over three million rivets held its hull.
A boy on the Southampton quay counts the Titanic's funnels and is told a secret about the fourth; write the conversation.Fact: of the Titanic's four funnels only three worked. The aftmost was a dummy, also used for ventilation.
A deckhand works one of the Titanic's cranes on sailing day and lowers a trunk with a label he cannot forget; write about the label.Fact: the Titanic had eight electric cranes to load and unload cargo and baggage.
A fireman starts his first shift in the Titanic's boiler rooms on sailing day; write his diary entry that night.Fact: 176 firemen shoveled over 600 tonnes of coal a day into the Titanic's furnaces by hand.
A first-class passenger brings a dog aboard the Titanic; write boarding day from the dog's point of view.Fact: the Titanic had kennels for the dogs of first-class passengers.
A porter at Southampton carries trunks up the Titanic's gangway all morning; write what he notices about the people who own them.Fact: the first passengers reached the quayside at 9:30 am on April 10, 1912, on the boat train from London.
A postal clerk sorts letters aboard the Titanic as it sails; write about one envelope he keeps wondering about.Fact: RMS means Royal Mail Ship. Five postal clerks worked aboard the Titanic.
A sailor who took the Titanic through its sea trials writes to his brother the night before the maiden voyage.Fact: the Titanic's sea trials were on April 2, 1912, eight days before it left Southampton.
A small boat carries passengers out to the Titanic at Cherbourg at dusk; describe the ship growing larger as the boat gets closer.Fact: Cherbourg had no dock for a ship that size, so tenders ferried passengers out. The ship arrived at 6:35 pm.
A steward learns the Titanic's corridors on boarding day while pretending he already knows them; write his morning.Fact: Royal Museums Greenwich lists a crew of 885 for the Titanic.
A ticket clerk sells the last third-class passage on the Titanic; write what she tells the buyer.Fact: by a museum's figures the Titanic had room for 1,026 passengers in third class.
At Queenstown a passenger leaves the Titanic for good and watches it sail on without her; write what she thinks on the quay.Fact: the Titanic reached Queenstown, Ireland, at 11:30 am on April 11, 1912, and sailed two hours later.
Describe walking the Titanic from bow to stern on the first afternoon, as someone who keeps getting lost.Fact: by a museum's figures the Titanic was 882.75 feet long overall and had ten decks.
Write a diary entry for the minute the Titanic leaves the dock, by a child at the rail who has never seen the sea.Fact: the Titanic set sail from Southampton at 12:15 on April 10, 1912, bound for New York.
You board the Titanic with a third-class ticket and find your cabin; write a letter home about it before the ship sails.Fact: a museum's page says even the cheaper third-class cabins were better than those on other liners.
Life on deck 15
A baker on the Titanic lights the ovens while the passengers sleep; write the ship as it sounds before dawn.Fact: the Titanic's crew included bakers, chefs, butchers, fishmongers, dishwashers and laundrymen.
A child explores the Titanic on a dare to find the squash court, the Turkish bath and the barber shop; write the route.Fact: first class on the Titanic had squash courts, a Turkish bath, a gymnasium and a barber shop.
A deck steward on the Titanic rents out deck chairs and learns everyone's business; write his Saturday.Fact: the Titanic's passengers passed time on the open deck, strolling or sitting in hired deck chairs.
A second-class passenger rides the Titanic's elevator up and down just to do it; write what the attendant thinks.Fact: the Titanic's second-class staircase had an elevator, the first in second class on an ocean liner.
A waiter in the Titanic's Café Parisien overhears a passenger's plan for her first day in New York; write the plan.Fact: the Café Parisien on the Titanic was open from 8:00 am to 11:00 pm.
A wireless operator on the Titanic taps out passengers' greetings all day; write the message he enjoys sending most.Fact: the Titanic's wireless room ran 24 hours a day, mostly sending and receiving passenger telegrams.
Describe dinner in the Titanic's third-class dining saloon as a traveler who packed her own bread, just in case.Fact: third class on the Titanic got simple meals three times a day; many ships made such passengers bring food.
The gymnasium instructor on the Titanic talks a nervous passenger onto the electric camel; write the scene.Fact: the Titanic's gymnasium had two electric camels, an electric horse and a rowing machine.
One of the Titanic's eight musicians writes home about the strangest request a passenger has made.Fact: the Titanic's eight musicians worked for an agency and traveled as second-class passengers.
Someone sits down at the piano in the Titanic's third-class general room and strangers start to sing; write the evening.Fact: the third-class general room had a piano, and passengers with instruments could form bands.
Sunday on the Titanic turns calm and cold; write a walk around the deck that evening by someone who notices the stars.Fact: on April 14, 1912, the weather went from a brisk morning wind to a still, perfectly clear evening.
The Titanic's printer sets tomorrow's page of the ship's newspaper; write three headlines and the story under one.Fact: a printer aboard produced a daily paper for the Titanic's passengers, the Atlantic Daily Bulletin.
The Titanic's Sunday lifeboat drill is called off and a sailor has a free morning; write how he spends it.Fact: a lifeboat drill set for the morning of Sunday, April 14, 1912, was canceled.
Write a letter from the Titanic's second-class library on Sunday, April 14, by someone who has run out of things to report.Fact: second class on the Titanic had a library, a smoking room, an outdoor promenade and a dining room.
Write a postcard from the Titanic's swimming pool to a friend who will not believe a ship can have one.Fact: first class on the Titanic had a heated saltwater swimming pool, 30 feet long and 7 feet deep.
The night of April 14 15
A passenger in bed on the Titanic feels a small shudder and decides whether to get up; write the next five minutes.Fact: many of the Titanic's passengers felt only a bump or shudder and did not know what had happened.
A passenger on the Carpathia wakes to a cold cabin and a ship shaking with speed; write what she works out.Fact: the Carpathia's captain cut off heating and hot water to send all the steam to the engines.
A steward on the Carpathia writes down names as people from the Titanic's lifeboats come aboard; write his morning.Fact: the Carpathia picked up the first lifeboat at 4:10 am and docked in New York on April 18, 1912.
A wireless operator on a ship 58 miles away picks up the Titanic's call; write how he tells his captain.Fact: the Carpathia, the closest ship to answer the Titanic's call, was 58 miles away.
An officer on the Titanic's deck fires a rocket into a sky full of stars; write what he hopes is out there.Fact: eight distress flares were fired from the Titanic, one every few minutes.
From a ship stopped in the ice, a sailor counts white rockets on the horizon and wonders what they mean; write his watch.Fact: an officer on the Californian, stopped for the night in ice, saw five white rockets burst over a distant ship.
Sailors on the Carpathia stack blankets, ladders and mail sacks by the doors in the dark; write what they say while they wait.Fact: the Carpathia's captain had blankets, ladders and mail sacks put at each gangway door.
The sea is so flat that the stars shine in it; describe the water around a Titanic lifeboat without using the word cold.Fact: on the night of April 14, 1912, there was no moon and the ocean was completely calm.
Someone in a Titanic lifeboat is handed an oar and has never rowed; write the lesson.Fact: the Titanic carried 20 lifeboats, built to hold about 1,178 people.
The Titanic's lookouts ask again where the binoculars are; write the answer they get and what they do instead.Fact: after a mix-up at Southampton the Titanic's lookouts had no binoculars.
Two of the Titanic's lifeboats are tied together for the night; write the talk between strangers across the gap.Fact: two of the Titanic's lifeboats were lashed together until they separated to meet the rescue ship.
Write the lookout's last quiet minute in the Titanic's crow's nest before he sees something ahead.Fact: at 11:40 pm on April 14, 1912, a lookout saw the iceberg, rang the bell three times and phoned the bridge.
Write the moment someone in a Titanic lifeboat sees a green light answered by a ship's lights at dawn.Fact: about 4:00 am an officer in a lifeboat guided the Carpathia in with a green flare.
Write the night from a seat in one of the Titanic's lifeboats, as the person holding the lantern.Fact: each main lifeboat carried 10 oars, a compass, a lantern, a mast and sail, and tanks of fresh water.
Write the scene in the Titanic's wireless room as the operator switches from one distress call to another.Fact: the Titanic's operators sent the distress call CQD and then changed to SOS.
An opinion to argue 15
A first-class ticket on the Titanic cost several times a third-class one. Should what you pay ever change how safe you are? Argue it.Fact: the cheapest first-class fare on the Titanic was £23; a third-class fare was £7 5s.
After the Titanic, ships had to keep a radio operator listening day and night. Why do some rules need a disaster first? Write your view.Fact: later rules said passenger ships must keep radio running 24 hours a day.
An ice patrol has watched the North Atlantic ever since the Titanic. Write about one thing in your town that exists because something once went wrong.Fact: the Titanic led to an International Ice Patrol that watches for icebergs. It still runs today.
The Carpathia raced through ice at night toward the Titanic's lifeboats. When is a risk worth taking for strangers? Write your answer.Fact: the Carpathia steamed through the night at high speed, dodging icebergs on the way.
Ice warnings came in and the Titanic kept its speed, as ships then did. Is doing what everyone does a good defense? Argue it.Fact: in 1912 ice warnings were seen as advisories, and ships often ran at close to full speed.
Is the Titanic remembered too much, when its two sister ships are nearly forgotten? Argue yes or no.Fact: the Titanic had two sister ships: the Olympic, launched in 1910, and the Britannic, launched in 1914.
Its builders called the Titanic practically unsinkable. Write about the difference one word makes in a promise.Fact: a museum's page says the builders claimed 'practically unsinkable'; films made it 'unsinkable'.
Nobody knows exactly how many people sailed on the Titanic. Does a history need exact numbers to be true? Argue it.Fact: about 50 people who had booked did not sail, and the exact number aboard the Titanic is not known.
Should the things lying around the Titanic's wreck be brought up for museums or left where they are? Take a side.Fact: the Titanic's wreck was found on September 1, 1985, about 2.5 miles below the surface.
Stories say the Titanic was racing for a speed record, and a museum says they are untrue. Why do false stories stick? Write your view.Fact: Royal Museums Greenwich calls the stories of a speed record 'without substance'.
The Titanic carried 20 lifeboats and broke no rule. Is following the rules enough? Argue it.Fact: the Titanic met the safety rules of its time and went beyond them by adding four collapsible boats.
The Titanic had a pool, a gymnasium and a squash court. Would you rather sail on the grandest ship or the plainest safe one? Explain.Fact: a museum's page says more luxurious liners than the Titanic were in service at the time.
The Titanic's crew held one lifeboat drill, in port. Are practice drills worth the bother? Argue it with the ship as your example.Fact: only one lifeboat drill was held, while the Titanic was docked at Southampton.
The Titanic's fourth funnel was partly for show. Is it honest to make a thing look more powerful than it is? Argue it.Fact: the Titanic's aftmost funnel was a dummy, fitted mainly for looks.
Which job on the Titanic would you have wanted: lookout, baker, musician or wireless operator? Choose and give reasons.Angle: think about the hours, who you would talk to and what you would see.
How it works
These Titanic writing prompts follow people a history book skips: a porter, a postal clerk, a baker. Nobody aboard is named, and the last night is told from the crow's nest, the wireless room, the lifeboats and the rescue ship.
Read the full guide
A Titanic writing prompt for students, with the fact under it
Fifty-nine of the sixty prompts have a Fact line: the ship sailed from Southampton at 12:15 on April 10, 1912, was 882.75 feet long and carried 20 lifeboats. Use the fact as the one fixed thing in a made-up person's day.
From Southampton to the morning of April 15
Boarding day takes in Southampton, Cherbourg and Queenstown. Life on deck has the gymnasium's electric camel, the ship's daily newspaper and a drill called off on Sunday. The night of April 14 runs from 11:40 pm to the Carpathia's lights at dawn.
Pick the person first, then the deck. A fireman and a first-class passenger never saw the same ship.
Keep a clock in the corner of the page. On April 14 the times are known to the minute.
Questions and answers
What is a good Titanic writing prompt for students?
One with a job in it. A postal clerk sorts letters as the ship sails and keeps wondering about one envelope. RMS stands for Royal Mail Ship, and five postal clerks worked aboard.
Are these Titanic writing prompts about the sinking?
Fifteen are set on the night of April 14, 1912, and none asks anyone to describe a death. They keep to the lookout's bell, the distress calls, a seat in a lifeboat and the Carpathia, which picked up the first boat at 4:10 am.
What facts about the Titanic are in the prompts?
Dates, times and details of the ship: four funnels, of which three worked, a gymnasium with two electric camels, eight musicians, kennels for first-class dogs, and 20 lifeboats built to hold about 1,178 people.
Are there opinion prompts about the Titanic?
Fifteen. Was following the lifeboat rules of 1912 enough? Should the things around the wreck, found on September 1, 1985, be brought up or left? Why do untrue stories about a speed record stick?