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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. Where do the American forecasters think the storm is headed?

2. What is the age of Isaac's oldest daughter at the opening of the book?

3. Roofs in Galveston are shingled in ___________.

4. For whom does Isaac record weather?

5. What year is London hit with a devastating cyclone?

Short Essay Questions

1. How did Isaac meet his wife?

2. What is Galveston like in 1900?

3. How is Isaac a reflection of the country at this time?

4. What is the difference between Isaac and Joseph's points of view in the early morning hours of September 8?

5. What does the Galveston newspaper advertise as being the chic look for the summer of 1900?

6. What is the weather like across the country during August 1900?

7. What characteristics do they know in 1900 that all hurricanes have in common?

8. Why does hail become an obsession of Isaac's?

9. Describe the photograph taken of Isaac by New Orleans photographer.

10. Why does Isaac believe that no storm could harm Galveston?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What are the greater truths found in the smallest details of the story? Use specific examples.

Essay Topic 2

How does Erik Larson present a more nuanced look at the Galveston hurricane than the one that is contained in the National Archives? What is the critical difference between the two?

Essay Topic 3

Throughout the story, people make decisions that turn about to be the difference between life and death. Mr. Poe and the lighthouse is good example of this. Discuss four specific examples of this in book and the larger truth these decisions indicate about how people react in extreme danger.

(see the answer keys)

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