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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. What did the author's friends call him?

2. In what sense does the author feel isolated from his wife?

3. How does the author know that the end of this life is all about heavenly reunions?

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

5. How does the author say a mother who has lost a child responds to words of comfort about where the child is?

Short Essay Questions

1. What was the most precious gift that marriage to H. had given Lewis? What is Lewis afraid will happen to that gift?

2. 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.?

3. What does Lewis experience when he finally goes to a place where he and H. had been happy?

4. 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?

5. What does Lewis mean by the term "live" as it relates to H.'s memory?

6. Lewis begins to ask a question that becomes central to his reflections. What "disquieting symptom" introduces itself to Lewis in Chapter One?

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

8. 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?

9. How does Lewis try to convince himself that he does not mind H.'s death? Provide examples of the things that Lewis tells himself.

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Lewis reflects that people other than his children are having trouble coping with Lewis's grief. He describes various instances and impressions that leave him with distinct opinions about those who grieve.

1) Whom does Lewis encounter that he believes have uncomfortable responses to his obvious agony? Provide general as well as specific examples.

2) How do the people about whom Lewis writes respond to him? Be specific, detailing who and how they respond.

3) What does Lewis conclude about people who are grieving and their place in society?

Essay Topic 2

For the first two chapters, Lewis is immersed in emotions, in raw agony. In the third chapter, he takes a significant turn. As Lewis points his ability to reason toward his grief, he begins another stage in the process of his grieving.

1) What questions does Lewis ask about H.'s death and what it means for the whole of life? When Lewis writes about the "problem of the universe," what does he mean?

2) Describe the difference between what Lewis believed before H. died and what he questions after she dies. What is the main difference between the two conditions of belief? What is important about the difference for the possibility of a sane and rational life of faith?

3) Regarding faith, what Lewis believed prior to H.'s death has everything to do with his faith in God and in what he had been taught. How does Lewis think about his faith after H. died?

Essay Topic 3

What does Lewis mean in Chapter Two when he writes, "Heaven is a state where 'the former things have passed away'"? What has passed away? What is the "Heaven" to which Lewis refers? What prompts Lewis's reflections on his desires to have H. back? Cite any quotes used in the text.

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