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. How many saloons does greater Johnstown have?

2. How many crucial changes did Ruff's men find that Fulton failed to notice?

3. What is the name of the engineer who sits in the cab of train No. 2 at Buttermilk Falls in Chapter 4?

4. What is the title of Chapter 4?

5. At what time does the dam simply move away in a push at the end of Chapter 3?

Short Essay Questions

1. How is George Heiser described in Chapter 1?

2. What are the four critical changes John Fulton discovers must be made regarding Ruff's men's findings at the end of Chapter 2?

3. What is the nature of John Fulton's report on the safety of the dam in Chapter 2?

4. How does John G. Parke describe the weather at the beginning of Chapter 1?

5. What does Hettie Ogle do when she receives the flood warning?

6. What happens to the city of Woodvale in Chapter 4?

7. What does John G. Parke do when he is awakened for the second time at 6:30 a.m.?

8. What is Johnstown like in 1889 in terms of amenities?

9. How are the hundreds of families in the streets of Johnstown just after the water begins to rise described?

10. In what way is Johnstown booming financially before the flood?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the role of the telegraph operators in the crisis. Did all of these operators work together or did some act alone? What impact could they have had in preventing the number of flood related deaths?

Essay Topic 2

Examine the nature of the author's depictions of the flood victims in the book. What methods did he use to obtain these descriptions? What evidence is there to suggest they are accurate accounts?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss the role of technology during the flood. What are some of the technological advances that could have helped the people of Johnstown to survive the flood? Did they make proper use of these measures?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 674 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample