The Hot Zone by Richard Preston Reading Schedule and Response Questions/Prompts
Essential Questions:
1. Should our government be required to alert the public of
impending threats/extinct level events?
2. To what extent should citizens be responsible for public
health? (I was thinking vaccinations and AIDS on this one.)
3. How does an author’s use of narrative techniques help to
develop the central message of a text?
Assignments & Assessments
 Reading and Annotate Text
 Class Activities and Discussions
 Argumentative Essay (Timed)
 Novel Test
Expectations
 Bring your novel to every class meeting.
 Complete the readings by the due date.
 Actively participate in class activities and discussions
related to our study of the novel.
Directions: Annotate passages in the text using post-it notes
or note cards that answer these study questions.
Part I: The Shadow of Mt. Elgon
Something in the Forest
1. Why does the author use hot and cold sensory images in his
description of the virus?
2. Why were workers burning the fields? What impact does
this have on the migration of microbes and the natural
biodiversity of an area?
3. Why don't antibiotics work on viruses?
4. The author often switches from one narrative point of view
to another. On page 20, the author switches from thirdperson narration to the second-person voice, i.e., “he” and
“they” are switched to “you”. What is the impact of this
technique? Why do you think the author does it?
Jumper
5. What is the significance of the title of this chapter? What
does it mean to “jump species”?
Diagnosis
6. What are the two types of Ebola?
A Woman and a Soldier
7. Nancy cuts herself in the kitchen. How does this
foreshadow the events to come, and what kind of reaction
and emotion does it signify on her part?
Project Ebola
8. Describe the characteristics of the four levels of BSL.
9. Why is anthrax considered “safer” than Ebola?
10. Which system is attacked first? Why is this important?
11. Why are gloves the most important part of the defense
against Ebola?
Total Immersion
12. Why is anthrax considered “safer” than Ebola?
13. Which system is attacked first? Why is this important?
14. Why are gloves the most important part of the defense
against Ebola?
15. Why are viruses “ambiguously alive”?
Due Dates
(A) (B)
2/1 2/2
2/3 2/4
2/5 2/8
2/9 2/10
2/11 2/12
2/17
2/19
2/23
2/25
2/29
3/4
3/8
2/18
2/22
2/24
2/26
3/1
3/7
3/9
Chapters
Book Check Out
Part I – The Shadow of Mt. Elgon
A Woman and a Soldier
Ebola River
Going Deep/Part II Monkey
House/Reston
The First Angel
Space Walk/Part III Smashdown
Insertion
Inside/ Part IV Kitum Cave
Highway
Test
Timed Argumentative Essay
Pages
3-47
48-94
95-140
141-179
180-250
251-282
286-326
327-371
376-411
Total Immersion
16. The Hot Zone is a work of nonfiction journalism. How
does Richard Preston know what the characters are
thinking?
Ebola River
17. Where is the virus' original spreading point? Who was
the “index case”?
18. How did the practices of the hospital in Maridi contribute
to the spread of the disease? How can the medical
community intensify an outbreak of infectious disease?
19. What is the definition of “hot” as it is used in this book?
20. What percentage of Europeans was killed by the plague in
the 14th century? How does this compare to Marburg and
Ebola death rates?
Cardinal
21. What is the distinction between parasites and predators?
Going Deep
22. Describe the experiment in 1988 that confirmed that
Ebola could travel through the air.
23. What are sentinel animals? Identify two examples.
Part II: The Monkey House
Reston
24. Why do you think that the author starts off this section of
the novel with a description of Reston, Virginia?
Into Level 3
25. What characterizes the safety conditions in a Level 3
facility?
26. How did they culture the virus? There were at least four
different samples, what were they?
27. “A freezer can be hot as hell.” What does the author mean
in his case?
Exposure
28. What's the difference between an electron microscope and
a light microscope? What size particles can each see?
29. Jahrling refers to the cell culture as “off the plastic”.
What does he mean by this?
Medusa
30. Describing the six steps of preparing an EM photo.
31. “The incredible thing about a living system is that no
The Hot Zone by Richard Preston Reading Schedule and Response Questions/Prompts
matter how small the view, it is just as complicated as
ever”. What does the author mean by this? Describe the
complexity at the cellular or molecular level.
32. The author likens the image to the face of Medusa. Find a
picture or image of Medusa, Describe why the author uses
this analogy and how it fits.
33. In retrospect, what was the “pepper” that Tom had seen
under the light microscope.
The First Angel
34. How do some patients respond to life in the Slammer?
Describe how you would react to being in a solitary
confinement with a possible fatal exposure to some
pathogen?
The Second Angel
35. What did the evidence from monkey 053's cells show?
36. Explain the procedure and results of the test Jahrling
performed to find out what virus was present in the
monkeys.
The Chain of Command
37. What is a thread virus?
38. What are three ways to eliminate a virus? Which are or
are not applicable at this point?
39. Why would there by tension between the Army and
CDC?
Garbage Bags
40. What did Volt tell Dan? How did that affect his next set
of decisions?
41. What is “extreme amplification”?
42. “The Army might have to act decisively to put out this
fire.” What does this mean?
43. Why did they have to move fast with these specimens?
Why couldn't they wait?
Space Walk
44. Describe the steps to take prior to going into a Level 4
zone.
Shootout
45. Describe the scene inside the hut in the Zande village?
Mission
46. Why is Kitum Cave so important to the story? How was
the monkey house like Kitum Cave?
Reconnaissance
47. What was the plan for December 1? What time were they
going to start? Why?
48. Why do you think Bill Volt wasn't concerned about being
in the monkey house? Do you think his opinion changed
when Gene Johnson and Sergeant Klages were afraid to
touch things in his office?
49. What is the dramatic effect of the lengthy description of
the normal family life of the Jaax family?
Part III: Smashdown
Insertion
50. Who do you think leaked the news to the Washington
Post? Why?
51. What is the tone of this story? Reassuring or frightening?
Does it lend an air of confidence or add to the fright
factor?
52. Do you think this tory is accurate given what you know?
What were some of CJ's thoughts in preparing to give the
interview?
A Man Down
53. Compare Frantig's symptoms with Monet, Musoke, and
Peter Cardinal. Given Dalgard's fears and what you know
by now, what would you have said to Frantig?
91 Tangos
54. What were 4 symptoms Jerry saw as he moved around?
55. Why does the coughing and sneezing worry Jerry? What
comparison does the author make in this case and why?
56. What was the most dangerous part of the job and why?
Inside
57. In debriefing this very long day,
a. Make a timeline of events (use chapter subheading if
that helps)
b. Write four recommendations to CJ about things that
worked and things that did not work.
A Bad Day
58. What were Frantig's results on the Ebola test? What
would have happened if it had come up with the opposite
result?
59. Compare the procedures and actions on the second day
with those of the first.
60. Why did Jerry veto the idea of shooting the monkey?
How did he end up moving through that room? What
equipment did he have?
61. “This environment favors the monkey over us.” List
evidence to support or refute this statement.
62. Compare the technique of a good injection with a bad
one. How could they tell by the effects?
Decon
63. When was the last monkey killed?
64. What was the final step in sterilizing the monkey house?
65. “Sometimes it is better to be lucky than smart”. Explain
the quote and circumstances in the novel.
The Most Dangerous Strain
66. What did the second outbreak of the virus tell researchers
about the nature of the Ebola virus?
67. “Imagine a virus with the infectiousness of the flu and the
mortality rate of the black plague”. What could we do to
protect ourselves against this?
Part IV: Kitum Cave
Highway
68. The author has changed the narrative point of view. What
is the narrative point of view now? What's the author
trying to accomplish by this change? Give some reasons
why the author might have changed the point of view.
69. Describe the disaster plan the author and Robin joke
about. Who are the Flying Doctors?
Camp
70. Describe Kitale.
71. List the species noticed coming in and out of the cave.
What other species do you think might be present that the
author missed seeing? (Consider nocturnal species.)
72. What makes Kitum Cave “a nice place for a virus to jump
species”?
73. What does the author speculate is the cause of the rise in
rain forest viruses in humans?