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Katrina: Worst Disaster in History
7.R.RI.07 – Compare and contrast a text to an audio, video, or multimedia version, analyzing each medium’s portrayal of the subject (e.g., how the delivery of a speech affects the impact of the words)
“Hurricane Katrina; The Aftermath” by The History Channel
Many people acted heroically in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. The Coast _____ 1. Why was New Orleans considered a “total disaster area”
after Hurricane Katrina?
Guard, for instance, rescued some 34,000 people in New Orleans alone, and many
a. Government officials were unaware of how bad things
ordinary citizens commandeered boats, offered food and shelter, and did whatever
else they could to help their neighbors. Yet the government–particularly the federal
were.
government–seemed unprepared for the disaster. The Federal Emergency
b. The Coast Guard refused to respond.
Management Agency (FEMA) took days to establish operations in New Orleans, and
c. The Superdome was closed.
even then did not seem to have a sound plan of action. Officials, even including
d. FEMA refused to help.
President George W. Bush, seemed unaware of just how bad things were in New
_____ 2. Hurricane Katrina affected which areas?
Orleans and elsewhere: how many people were stranded or missing; how many
a. Mississippi
c. Alabama
homes and businesses had been damaged; how much food, water, and aid was
b. Louisiana
d. all of the above
needed. Katrina had left in her wake what one reporter called a “total disaster zone”
where people were “getting absolutely desperate.”
3. Why was it necessary to rescue so many people in New Orleans
(For one thing, many had nowhere to go. At the Superdome in New Orleans, where
after Hurricane Katrina? Cite direct evidence from the text to
supplies had been limited to begin with, officials accepted 15,000 more refugees from
support your answer. (3 points)
the storm on Monday before locking the doors. City leaders had no real plan for
anyone else. Tens of thousands of people desperate for food, water and shelter broke
into the Ernest N. Memorial Convention Center complex, but they found nothing
there but chaos. Meanwhile, it was nearly impossible to leave New Orleans: Poor
people especially, without cars or anyplace else to go, were stuck. For instance, some
people tried to walk over the Crescent City Connector bridge to the nearby suburb of
Gretna, but police officers with shotguns forced them to turn back.)
Katrina pummeled huge parts of Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama, but the 4. Describe the rescue efforts in New Orleans. Cite direct evidence
from the text to support your answer. (3 points)
desperation was most concentrated in New Orleans. Before the storm, the city’s
population was mostly black (about 67 percent); moreover, nearly 30 percent of its
people lived in poverty. Katrina exacerbated these conditions, and left many of New
Orleans’s poorest citizens even more vulnerable than they had been before the storm.
Today, after years of recovery and rebuilding efforts, people along the Gulf Coast
have made great strides in returning to life as usual even as they continue to rebuild.
In all, Hurricane Katrina killed nearly 2,000 people and affected some 90,000 square
miles of the United States. Hundreds of thousands of evacuees scattered far and wide.
Write a minimum of two paragraphs that compare and contrast the advantages and disadvantages of reading the text on the previous page to viewing
the photographs above. Be sure to explain how reading a text can be helpful and what type of information one can get from the words on the page. Then, do the same with the
two pictures. Use another piece of paper if you need more room.(25 points)
Exceeds = 5
Knowledge
______x 2 =
Applications
______x 2 =
Mechanics
______x 1 =
Clearly compare and contrasts both
mediums. Details clearly relate to the
type of medium.
You had two clearly defined paragraphs.
Your description clearly related to the
photographs included.
Very few mechanical errors (spelling,
punctuation, capitalization, grammar).
Meets = 4
Approaches = 3
Compares and contrasts both
mediums. Some supporting details
are included.
You had two paragraphs. Your
description mostly related to the
photographs included.
Few mechanical errors (spelling,
punctuation, capitalization,
grammar). They do not interfere with
readability.
Compares and contrasts both mediums,
but the supporting information is
incomplete.
You had two paragraphs. Your
description did not relate to the
photographs.
Mechanical errors (spelling,
punctuation, capitalization, grammar).
Readability is affected at times.
Falls Below = 1
Compares or contrasts but does not
include both.
You had only one paragraph. AND/OR
Your description was not clear and did
not relate to the photographs.
Mechanical errors (spelling,
punctuation, capitalization, grammar)
disrupt and take away from the content
of the paper.