Endurance: the preparation

• Literary Term: irony- the use of words to convey the opposite of their literal meaning; or, incongruity between what is expected and what actually occurs
• example: "Two hours after the Endurance had sailed, the supply ship arrived with their mail on board." [The ship had arrived after the men had put off leaving for days, hoping for their mail to come one last time.]
• Quote: "If [Shackleton] liked the look of a man, he was accepted."
• Shackleton's methods of choosing the twenty-eight members of his crew somewhat contradicted the way he had planned every other aspect of his expedition.  When it came to the structure, strength, and build of the ship, Shackleton had been cautiously meticulous.  He wanted every beam to fit perfectly, every wall to be sealed, and every nail and screw to be perfectly in place.  Shackleton took months planning for and gathering the food, tools, and other necessary equipment for his journey.  After all of this carefully thought out planning, one would think that Shackleton would have put just as much time and thought into choosing the men who would be accompanying him.  This, however, was not the case.  Shackleton showed the slightly shallow side of his personality in the way he chose his men.  Most of the interviews never went over five minutes, and he turned away numerous highly qualified volunteers.  Shackleton instead recruited the men whom he thought 'looked the part.'  Surprisingly, the capricious manner in which Shackleton chose his crew ended up being highly successful; nearly all of the men possessed compatible personalities with their fellow shipmates.