How does the opening of "marian anderson sings" compare to the opening structure of the biography of marian anderson? "marian anderson sings" uses in medias res, opening with the most dramatic moment. the biography begins with the birth of anderson. both "marian anderson sings" and the biography use a cause and effect structure; therefore, each open with an important event and the effect it had on anderson's life. both texts are structured chronologically, beginning with the birth of anderson. the biography of anderson opens with a dramatic event from her life. "marian anderson sings" begins with a chronological description of events.

onto a large boat, and mark the water level that the boat sinks to. then, take the elephant out and put a bunch of marked weights onto the boat until it reaches the same water level. add up the masses of the weights to get the weight of the elephant.

21 balloons is the story of professor william sherman's travels.

in 1883, he set off from san francisco for a balloon ride over the pacific and was found a month later floating with 21 balloons in the atlantic ocean. this seemed an astounding feat and everyone wanted to know what had happened.    

professor sherman was loyal, however, and said he would tell his tale first to the western american explorers club in san francisco, of which he was a member. this built up suspense for several chapters before he began to tell of the wonders of his adventures and the amazing island of krakatoa, an island which had just been blown up by a volcano.  

the residents of krakatoa are all millionaires who live under a "gourmet government" of their own devising. we get to see all the incredible adventures that creative people with unlimited resources would create according to the author.