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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 does Captain Halsey temporarily dock the Louisiana after the storm?

2. Who lives in Louise's boarding house?

3. What smell begins to dilute the smell of death in Galveston?

4. Where do some of the occupants of the second train go to ride out the storm?

5. When does Moore contend the hurricane warning flags were raised in Galveston?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

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

4. What are some of the misconceptions that Isaac and his colleagues have about hurricanes?

5. What does Louisa Rollfing experience when she and her children try to take a coach to her mother-in-law's house?

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

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

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

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

10. What is the first event that causes Galveston residents to begin to take the storm seriously?

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

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?

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This section contains 875 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample