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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What does Styron say the award he received should have done for him?
(a) Restore his ego.
(b) Make him famous.
(c) Pay all his bills.
(d) Make him new friends.

2. What clues does Gary reveal that Styron later learns was probably signs of deep depression?
(a) Withdrawal from friendships.
(b) Lack of cohesive thought.
(c) Constant weepiness.
(d) Shaky hands and weak, quiet voice.

3. What do Styron's companions notice about him?
(a) He is angry at his friends.
(b) That he appears not to feel well.
(c) He is disoriented.
(d) He is very sleepy.

4. What is the old term for depression?
(a) Melancholia.
(b) Manic depressive.
(c) Mental deficit.
(d) Mania.

5. What does Styron say about not returning to France?
(a) He doesn't like to travel.
(b) He had such a miserable time in Paris.
(c) He believes one day in the near future he will take his own life.
(d) It cost so much to go and he was nearly broke.

6. What two people does Styron think of while leaving Paris?
(a) His father and brother.
(b) Albert Camus and Romain Gary.
(c) His son and brother.
(d) Job and Milton.

7. Why is Styron so sad about Hoffman's suicide?
(a) He was not really depressed, so why did he commit suicide?
(b) He was so valuable to mankind.
(c) He was such a good writer.
(d) He was so young and vital.

8. Where did Styron meet Hoffman?
(a) At the del Duco award dinner.
(b) At a democratic convention.
(c) He had never really met him, only talked to him.
(d) At a writer's conference.

9. Which group of people have more incidence of depression than all others?
(a) Rich people.
(b) Women suffer more than any other group of people.
(c) Children.
(d) Poor people.

10. What philosophical question does Gary present as central to all philosophy; a question that confuses Styron until years later when he suffers his depression?
(a) Does man depend on other men?
(b) Why does life have hardships?
(c) Is life worth living?
(d) Are all suicides due to weak character?

11. What does Styron say about alcohol's mood-altering characteristics?
(a) It had no effect on his mood.
(b) It lightened his mood for a good amount of time.
(c) It is a depressant, but didn't depress him.
(d) It is an upper, but depressed him.

12. What does Styron say would cause many depression-related suicides?
(a) Lack of psychiatric treatment protocols.
(b) Lack of medicines to treat depression.
(c) Lack of moral strength by the depressed person.
(d) Lack of awareness by others about the intensity of the pain.

13. What does Styron realize in Paris that helps him understand what is happening to him?
(a) He can't think clearly anymore.
(b) The circadian cycle gives him moments of brief respite from the deep depression, giving clarity of thought.
(c) He begins to cry incessantly and realizes he is depressed.
(d) He can't talk to his wife any more.

14. Why does Styron say that physical symptoms accompany depression?
(a) Depressed people are clumsy and suffer several injuries.
(b) Depressed persons have more illnesses.
(c) Illness leads to depression.
(d) The mind can better accept that there is a physical cause than a mental one.

15. What quote from Baudelaire does Styron use to explain his feelings?
(a) "Madness is but a figment of the imagination."
(b) "I have felt the wind of the wing of madness."
(c) "Man's madness is his downfall."
(d) "Madness breeds madness."

Short Answer Questions

1. What does Styron think of these two people, who were close literary friends?

2. What does Styron lose at the luncheon in Paris?

3. Where does Styron spend his summers?

4. What effect does Styron's op-ed piece have on the general public?

5. What does Levi's suicide cause Styron to do?

(see the answer keys)

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