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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What sixteen-year-old was washed to the mainland and was given up for dead but reappeared a week later in Part V: Strange News?

2. Who was the engineer of the Galveston-Houston train that became trapped in Part III: Spectacle?

3. It was estimated that at the height of the storm, the barometric pressure fell to __________.

4. Isaac Cline's neighbor sent a telegram to whom, telling them to delay a trip into Galveston?

5. What daughter of Ruby Credo's was severely injured when a piece of wood was driven through her arm?

Short Essay Questions

1. Where did Isaac and his family find themselves after the passing of the storm? How is the setting described?

2. What was the setting like when Colonel William Sterett's train became stalled? What did the passengers do?

3. Where was August Rollfing headed in the beginning of Part IV: Cataclysm? Where was his family?

4. How does the author describe the arrival of the "Pensacola" in Galveston in Part V: Strange News?

5. How does the author describe Rabbi Cohen's experiences of the storm?

6. How is the setting of Judson Palmer's home described? Who took refuge there?

7. Describe the losses sustained by the Credo and Palmer families. How many were lost?

8. Who was Colonel William Sterett? Why was he traveling to Galveston?

9. What happened following the attempts by Galveston to bury the dead at sea?

10. What was Louise Hopkins doing as the flooding began in Galveston? Where did she go?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Describe one element of foreshadowing in the first section of the book and analyze it. What is the author's purpose in using foreshadowing here? How does the foreshadowing impact the reader? Why does the author choose to introduce Captain Simmons in the first section?

Essay Topic 2

Describe and analyze the predictions of Isaac Cline and Professor Andrew Jackson DeVoe of the 1900 hurricane. What is the significance of these predictions in terms of the book's narrative? Do they serve as symbols? How does intuition relate to Isaac and Joseph Cline?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss Isaac's career after the US Signal Corps and prior to his arrival in Galveston. How long did Isaac work in Little Rock? Where did he transfer next? Also discuss the storm developments which took place in St. John. How did the atmospheric conditions in this location serve to strengthen the storm?

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