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Photo: Library of Congress
 

"Nature's Fury"
Study Guides Page

Image Analysis | Personal Account Analysis | Song Lyric Analysis | Book Guide | Research Notes Sheet | Wax Museum Guide |Checklist for Presentation

Image Analysis Guide

1. When and where was this image created?
 

2.  What is happening in this image?
 

3. What specific people/objects do you see?
 

4. What do you notice about the objects' condition or the people's expressions or appearance?
 

5. Why would the person choose this particular scene to capture?
 

6. What information do the words accompanying the image provide?
 

7. What is missing from the image?
 

8. What problems for people are suggested by the images?
 

9.  What is interesting or surprising about this image?
 

10. What additional information about the event did you learn from this image?
 
 

Personal Account Analysis Guide

1. When and where did this interview take place?
 

2. What encounter with nature is described in this personal account?
 

3. How long after the event occurred was this interview made?
 

4. What words or phrases do you think best create a visual image of the event?
 

5. What attitude towards this event does the person seem to have?
 

6. Who or what  does this person seem to believe is responsible for this event occurring?
 

7. What effects does the event seem to have had on people's lives?
 

8.  What lesson does this person seem to have learned from this event?
 

9. Is there anything interesting or surprising to you about this person's reaction to the situation?
 

10. What new insights into the natural event does this interview provide you?

Song Lyric Analysis Guide

1. Is this song about the specific event listed, or is it about a similar event?
 

2. What natural disaster does this song describe?
 

3. Read through the lyrics. Write a  summary describing the main idea of the song.
 

4. List any words in the song with which you are not familiar. Find their meanings in a dictionary.
 

5. Choose one or two phrases of the song that are interesting to you. Explain why they caught your attention.
 

6. Who or what does the song writer feel is responsible for the event?
 

7. What problems or effects of the event are mentioned in the song?
 

8. What new insights does this song give you about the event described?
 

9. What surprises you about the song?
 

10. What questions do you have?
 
 

Book Guide

As you read your book, think about the following questions and write your responses to them.

Journal #1
What were your feelings after reading the first chapter of the book? What gave you this impression?
 

Journal #2
What details did the author use to show the setting of the story and give you a sense of what the characters were like?
 

Journal #3
What were the main problems the characters faced in the story? How did they attempt to solve them?
 

Journal #4
What surprised or confused you in the book?
 

Journal #5
What was the passage that seemed most real to you?
 

Journal #6
What did the characters or their families, communities, or governments do to help people recover from the event?
 

Journal #7
What effects did the event have on the characters' lives and on their communities?
 

Journal #8
What lessons did you learn from the way people handled the event?
 

Journal #9
What questions would you like answered about the book?
 

Journal #10
What changes would you have made in the story?
 
 

Wax Museum Presentation Guide

You will be preparing a historical fiction account for your book based on the following outline.  Your oral report will be in a "wax museum" format and should be about 3 minutes in length.  You will dress up like a person who witnessed the event in the book and describe the event as that person would.

Rehearsal date:
Wax Museum performance:
 

I. Introduction
Try to use an interesting attention getter to introduce the subject of your book.
 Include the date and place of the event and explain why this event was important in American history.

II. Body
A. Tell the facts about when, where, why and how the event occurred?
B. Use your photographs to explain more details about what happened before, during, and after the event.
B. Describe how this event affected the people who experienced it.  Use your artifacts to demonstrate your points.
C. Explain how things changed as a result of this event.
D. Tell how you felt as a witness to the event.
E. Explain how the people recovered from this event.  Present the lessons you learned from the people who experienced this event.

III. Conclusion
Wrap up the personal account.  Include whether or not you think the event could ever happen again.

Presentation Checklist
 

• Were you ready on time?

• Introduction:
•  Used an interesting attention getter?
•  Introduced the subject/event ?
•  Included the date and place of the event ?
•  Stated why this event was important in American history ?

• Body:
•  Used photographs to explain what happened before, during, and after the event ?
•  Described how this event affected people?
•  Used artifacts to demonstrate effects of the event ?
•  Explained what things changed as a result of the event ?
•  Told how it felt to be a witness to the event ?
•  Explained how the people recovered from the event ?

• Conclusion:
•  Used an interesting and appropriate closing?

• Visual aids:
•  3-5 photographs were included in the display?
•  Time/effort were evident creating the artifact ?
•  Music/song sheets were included in the display ?

• Presentation style:
•  Note cards did not distract from report ?
•  Speakerís voice was easy to hear ?
•  Rate of speaking was neither too fast nor too slow?
•  Speaker had good posture ?
•  Presenter dressed as a witness of the event and represented the time period of the event ?
• Speech was at least 3 minutes in length?

Library of Congress URL: http://www.loc.gov/

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