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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. Who coined the word "cyclone" to describe hurricane damage?

2. What does Isaac become obsessed with after an article he wrote is rejected?

3. Who is Willis Moore?

4. Whom does Isaac consider one of the great pioneers of meteorology?

5. How many passengers are aboard the Louisiana the day of the hurricane?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Isaac compare the feeling to that he has on the night before the hurricane?

2. What does Isaac do for the U.S. Weather Bureau?

3. How did Isaac meet his wife?

4. What kind of man does the narrator describe Isaac to be?

5. What might have saved thousands of lives in Galveston?

6. How does Larson describe the center of a hurricane?

7. How does Moore treat the weather forecasting being done in Cuba?

8. Why was the creation of the Weather Service controversial?

9. How was weather recorded before the creation of the weather service?

10. What does Isaac observe when he goes to the beach the morning of the storm?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

How is the history of weather intertwined with Isaac's history? Where and how do they tragically intersect with the future of Galveston?

Essay Topic 2

What are examples of the hurricane bringing out both the best and worst in people throughout the story? What does this say about both the best and worst sides of human nature? What are real life examples that demonstrate this same truth?

Essay Topic 3

What is both surprising and tragic about how the residents of Galveston are first unaware of the storm and then revel in its onset? At what moment does the city seem to realize that this is going to end very badly?

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