The Text Itself
What point of view is used in the text?
3rd person omniscient
How did the doctors figure out how the disease is actually spread?
Observations and experiments.
What was Dr. Reed's role in the study?
He was the team leader.
What were some symptoms of yellow fever?
They would have a fever, headache, vomiting black liquid, their skin and eyes turned yellow.
Who is suspected of being "Guinea pig No. 1"?
Dr. Lazear
How are the segments organized?
Chronological order, also the text takes a problem/solution approach.
How did the team rule out the spread of the illness being through proximity to dirty clothes and bedding?
A prisoner in a guarded cell died from the disease but the others around him did not catch it.
What was Dr. Lazear's focus as the text progressed and their progress seemed to stall?
The mosquito theory.
What kinds of people caught the disease?
True or false-did yellow fever disappear?
False, but measures were taken to reduce mosquito populations and a vaccine was developed.
Why did the author use such vivid details to describe the symptoms in "Meeting the Monster"?
To help the reader understand how horrible the disease was.
Describe how the doctors obtained healthy mosquitoes for their experiments.
They went to Dr. Finlay, who gave them eggs. They then raised them.
How did Dr. Finlay contribute to solving the mystery of how it's spread?
He introduced the mosquito theory and provided eggs for the team to hatch and use in experiments.
Epidemics occurred most during which part of the year?
Summer
What was something the doctors had in common?
The were all men, they all had medical backgrounds, they were all determined, etc.
Why are letters and other communications referenced?
To provide a better view of the illness, how it affected families, to develop our idea of the doctors' personalities (when they lied to their wives about the dangers of the disease).
Describe the process of testing the mosquito theory.
They had healthy mosquitoes, those bit infected people, and then the insects bit healthy people.
This doctor allowed himself to be bitten by an infected mosquito, came down with yellow fever, and survived.
Dr. Carroll
What did the war with Spain have to do with yellow fever?
The deadly disease was spreading through Cuba and US officials were worried that soldiers would bring the disease.
Many researchers considered Dr. Finlay to be crazy. What details about him disprove that.
He had believed and worked on his theory of transmission for twenty years, was actively caring for patients even if they couldn't afford a doctor, spoke six languages, and shared his knowledge (and mosquito eggs) openly with the research team.
What was one of the images used and what did it help the reader understand?
The bacteria in a dish (helping understand how germs are grown in labs and searched for), illustrations of mosquitoes (difference in the proboscis of male and female), fever charts (how severe the fevers were), etc.
Why was Bacillus icteroides ruled out as the way it was spread?
They could not find traces of the disease in the blood and tissue samples of yellow fever victims.
This doctor allowed himself to be bitten by an infected mosquito, came down with yellow fever, and died.
Dr. Lazear
Why were burials often without coffins?
So many people died so rapidly that coffin makers could not keep up.
What was meant by "a soldier's chances" in regards to people volunteering to participate in the research.
There was a very good chance that they would die if they caught the disease.