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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 saves the life of Dr. Young's wife?

2. What building does Isaac see is still intact after the hurricane?

3. Which direction is the water flowing through Galveston during the storm?

4. How old is Louise Hopkins the day of the storm?

5. What does Joseph use against the man who is pushing the children away from him on the raft?

Short Essay Questions

1. How do the children of Galveston react in the early hours of the storm?

2. How do Isaac and Dr. Young interpret what they see from the beach Saturday morning differently?

3. What is John Blagden experiencing during the storm?

4. What happens to the second train headed to Galveston the day of the storm?

5. Why is it initially not alarming to have lost all telegraph communication with Galveston?

6. What does August Rollfing experience during the hurricane?

7. What happens to Isaac the day after the storm?

8. How does Isaac handle Moore's lies and distortion of the truth about how the Weather Bureau handled the hurricane?

9. How does Moore distort the truth about how he handled the hurricane?

10. Why does Joseph want his telegram to the U.S. Weather Bureau chief be kept completely confidential?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What elements of human nature are captured in the "Spectacle" potion of the book? How is this shown to be intertwined with the ferocious beauty in nature?

Essay Topic 2

Larson ends the book with a description of what is standing today in the place where St. Mary's Orphanage once stood. What story in contained in that one simple image and why is that a poignant image to end the book?

Essay Topic 3

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

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