View a FREE sample

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 age of Isaac's oldest daughter at the opening of the book?

2. Who came up with a compelling theory about the cause of the trade winds?

3. For what will the summer of 1900 be remembered?

4. Where do the winds of the tropical storm suddenly weaken, causing forecasters to miscalculate the intensity and path of the storm?

5. What kind of sleeper is Isaac?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

3. What is the purpose of the eighteen-page letter that William Stockman sends to Col. Dunwoody?

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

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

6. What is Galveston like in 1900?

7. What is unusual about the summer of 1900 across the world?

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

9. What does Captain J. W. Simmons of the Pensacola experience after his ship leaves Galveston the morning of the hurricane?

10. What did the crew of Captain William Seymour's ship experience in the eye of a storm in 1837?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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?

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

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 845 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample