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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 is the name of August Rollfing's sister?

2. What destroys Isaac's house during the storm?

3. The author quotes the following newspapers as commending the U.S. Weather Bureau's forecasting during the hurricane, except one:

4. Isaac and his colleagues believe that the ____ is the single most destructive element in a hurricane.

5. Who lives in Louise's boarding house?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Louise Hopkins' mother do when the water started to rise?

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

3. What is Col. William Sterett's experience as he enters Galveston?

4. What is Captain Simmons experiencing on the Pensacola as the storm intensifies?

5. How do people in Galveston initially react to the storm?

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

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

8. What does Isaac claim that he did after observing conditions on the beach the morning of the storm?

9. How do Joseph's and Isaac's accounts of the hurricane differ in tone?

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the theme of the folly of man and the way it resonates throughout the book. How is the story of Isaac's Storm an example of man's best intentions gone tragically wrong?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss the title of each of the major parts of the book, their subtle meanings, and the way they add to the narrative.

Essay Topic 3

What role does weather play in the book, beyond representing the hurricane?

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