“Isaac’s Storm”, by Erik Larson, is a non-fiction historical narrative about the 1900 Galveston, Texas hurricane, “the most lethal hurricane this country has ever known. So far.” (www.washingtonpost.com) 1 In the book, Larson tells the story of Isaac Cline, the chief weather observer assigned to the Galveston, Texas weather station from 1891 to 1901. Mr. Larson, is a former “staff writer for The Wall Street Journal, and later a contributing writer for Time Magazine [who] has written articles for The Atlantic, Harper’s, The New Yorker, and other publications” (eriklarsonbooks.com) 2. This was his third book. He uses first person narratives, telegrams, and letters; many of which are contained in items from the Library of Congress, the Rosenberg
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Telegrams and other primary source information titled “The Storm” or “Telegram” are interspaced throughout the book. These “pre-chapters” tell about the location of the storm or explain how hurricanes work. Vertical lines on both sides of the text clearly indicate it is a “pre-chapter”. I found these entries effective in giving context to the chapter narrative that followed. The chapters starting in Part VI focused on Galveston from the perspective of various survivors such as Dr. Young, Louise Hopkins, Louisa and August Rolfing, Judson Palmer, and Ruby Credo, plus Isaac’s own, often times exaggerated, recollections. (Larson, 168) 3 These chapters bounce around between families. Although I did not find this confusing, I believe others might have more difficulty following the story. However, with the number of families Larson references, this was probably the best …show more content…
I especially liked the primary source narratives such as the description of Dr. Young watching the storm’s progress from the gallery of his house, and later from a chair looking out his 2nd floor window (Larson, 179-181)3. I do not understand why Dr. Young would have watched the storm’s progress so calmly. Furthermore, I cannot fathom how it would feel to be in a situation such as the Palmer family, when Mr. Palmer lost his whole family in an instant. “The roof stood up and fell upon the family. They went under the water together. Palmer came up alone. … He saw nothing of Lee or Mae.” (Larson, 186)3 The Hopkins and the Credos did something which may have saved them and could have saved Palmer’s family. Larson wrote, “…with no warning, her mother [Mrs. Hopkins] lifted the ax over her shoulder and slammed it into the floor. She kept chopping until the holes were big enough to see through.” (Larson, 182)3 The book never specifically says why, but I believe that by creating holes in the floor, the water had a way to expand into the space instead of perhaps lifting the house off the foundation like what happened to Mr. Palmer’s home. (Larson, 186)3 [Here again, you are not consistently placing the period outside of the in-text citation. Do not terminate at the end of the sentence, but rather at the closing of the parenthesis.]
Isaac’s Storm is a well-documented book with 30 pages of footnotes, seven pages dedicated to
Telegrams and other primary source information titled “The Storm” or “Telegram” are interspaced throughout the book. These “pre-chapters” tell about the location of the storm or explain how hurricanes work. Vertical lines on both sides of the text clearly indicate it is a “pre-chapter”. I found these entries effective in giving context to the chapter narrative that followed. The chapters starting in Part VI focused on Galveston from the perspective of various survivors such as Dr. Young, Louise Hopkins, Louisa and August Rolfing, Judson Palmer, and Ruby Credo, plus Isaac’s own, often times exaggerated, recollections. (Larson, 168) 3 These chapters bounce around between families. Although I did not find this confusing, I believe others might have more difficulty following the story. However, with the number of families Larson references, this was probably the best …show more content…
I especially liked the primary source narratives such as the description of Dr. Young watching the storm’s progress from the gallery of his house, and later from a chair looking out his 2nd floor window (Larson, 179-181)3. I do not understand why Dr. Young would have watched the storm’s progress so calmly. Furthermore, I cannot fathom how it would feel to be in a situation such as the Palmer family, when Mr. Palmer lost his whole family in an instant. “The roof stood up and fell upon the family. They went under the water together. Palmer came up alone. … He saw nothing of Lee or Mae.” (Larson, 186)3 The Hopkins and the Credos did something which may have saved them and could have saved Palmer’s family. Larson wrote, “…with no warning, her mother [Mrs. Hopkins] lifted the ax over her shoulder and slammed it into the floor. She kept chopping until the holes were big enough to see through.” (Larson, 182)3 The book never specifically says why, but I believe that by creating holes in the floor, the water had a way to expand into the space instead of perhaps lifting the house off the foundation like what happened to Mr. Palmer’s home. (Larson, 186)3 [Here again, you are not consistently placing the period outside of the in-text citation. Do not terminate at the end of the sentence, but rather at the closing of the parenthesis.]
Isaac’s Storm is a well-documented book with 30 pages of footnotes, seven pages dedicated to