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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. How will the author respond to being told the consolations of religion?

2. How does the author picture the "eternal somethings" that he and H. would be after this life?

3. In the first chapter, who does the author say had died several years ago?

4. What pseudonym did the author use?

5. How will the author respond if talked to about the "truth of religion"?

Short Essay Questions

1. Lewis is surprised about the way that grief intrudes upon his daily responsibilities. What are some symptoms Lewis experiences about the laziness of grief?

2. What aspects of religion is Lewis glad to discuss? What aspect of religion is Lewis not willing to accept?

3. Before H. died, In what ways is Lewis aware of the distinction between himself and H.?

4. How did Lewis feel years ago about a friend's life after death? Contrast that experience with the way that Lewis experiences H. after her death?

5. In what ways does Lewis reflect a mother who has lost her child can and cannot find comfort? For what does a mother mourn in that situation?

6. Does Lewis have trouble believing that God exists? Explain.

7. What does Lewis find so horrifying about the man he encountered who was tending to his mother's grave? What does Lewis's reaction to the man mean for Lewis's feelings about H.?

8. What does Lewis think that he can say about H.'s continuing? Why is it important for Lewis to work out the issue of where H. is?

9. What is one aspect of the supposed consolation that H. continues that troubles Lewis?

10. Why can Lewis not talk to his children about their mother?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Lewis begins to ponder H. and the possibility of her continuing existence. In the beginning of his reflections, Lewis discovers that H. has become inaccessible in different ways. Needless to say, this causes him great disturbance. Discuss what sets off Lewis's thoughts about H. and where or if she "is." What does Lewis discover is different in her case than was true for all others whom he had known who had died? What related issue does Lewis's trouble regarding H. introduce? This topic is one that runs through the book and is more central than Lewis's difficulties about H. What does Lewis finally determine is the distinction between the others who had died and H.?

Essay Topic 2

Images play important roles and relate to central ideas in Lewis's reflections. What is important about images for Lewis? In the last chapter, Lewis writes about images and reality. How does Lewis regard images? What is Lewis's example of a reality that has powerful images (icons) associated with it? What does Lewis determine is the nature of reality as it relates to images? What does all that mean for the one who grieves and wants his beloved back?

Essay Topic 3

Lewis describes an encounter with a man with a hoe and a watering can who was preparing to tend to the man's mother's grave. Lewis is "horrified" by the encounter, which displays Lewis's consistent desire to penetrate to the reality of the death of H. and the reality of God.

1) Discuss what it is about the man with the hoe that caused Lewis to be so troubled. Was it something the man said or did?

2) What does Lewis reflect is better; tending to a grave and letting that be one's sense of reality about the deceased, or to pass by symbols and seek to do without the person? Explain what Lewis is trying to work out.

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