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 described as by far the greatest horror witnessed by flood victims in Chapter 5?

2. Who arrives in Sang Hollow at 10 p.m. on foot with his story to wire to New Florence regarding the flood?

3. Who is the town's first choice for dictator?

4. Who heads the Pittsburgh Relief Committee after Moxham resigns?

5. How many of the 119 people riding debris downstream at 15 mph are saved in Chapter 6?

Short Essay Questions

1. How are the events on Sunday, June 9th described?

2. What are some of the efforts made by the townsfolk in regards to helping the flood survivors in Chapter 7?

3. How is Johnstown described at the beginning of Chapter 7?

4. What happens to a man and two women seen riding a barn roof in Chapter 6?

5. What is Pitcairn's reaction after seeing debris in the muddy water at Sang Hollow?

6. What is the nature of the stories spread by the city lieutenant in regards to the Hungarian immigrants?

7. What is the nature of the journalists' first reports of the flood?

8. How does the author describe the sightseers at the flood site?

9. How is Kurz and Allison's lithograph described?

10. What are the three destructive thrusts made by the wave as described in Chapter 5?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss the role of time period in the book. In what way is the time period to blame for the flood? What might have been different for the town had the flood occurred in a modern time period?

Essay Topic 3

Examine the structure of the book. What methods did the author use to tell this story? Was the structure used in the book successful?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 660 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample