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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 is the author's idea about reunion with the dead?

2. To what length would the author have gone if it could have cured H.'s cancer?

3. What important personal process does the author begin in the course of Chapter Three?

4. What does the author suspect is the real answer to reality?

5. What words of comfort take on new meaning for the author in the fourth chapter?

Short Essay Questions

1. In Chapter Three, what does Lewis come to see about his love for H. and his faith in God?

2. What does Lewis mean when he writes about a house of cards?

3. At the beginning of Chapter Three, when does Lewis acknowledge that he does not think about H.? What is life like when Lewis is not thinking about H.?

4. How does Lewis admit that he goes about restoring his faith?

5. What signs are there that Lewis is beginning to come out of his depression?

6. How does the consolation that previously so wearied Lewis, "She is in God's hands", strike Lewis by the last chapter?

7. What is an imperfect religious image with which Lewis is familiar? What is Lewis's reflection on this image?

8. What enormous gain in his sense of God and of H. has Lewis made by the fourth chapter?

9. What are Lewis's reflections about images in the fourth chapter?

10. At nearly the end of the book, what kind of answer does Lewis receive from God? Briefly, explain what the answer means.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Select three reflections that either resonated with your beliefs or that you had trouble comprehending or believing. Reflect on each one. Be precise when you refer to the selected reflections. Explain what captured your attention about each reflection. Discuss how each reflection might affect you. Also describe how or how not, the book as a whole might have meaning in your life.

Essay Topic 2

C.S. Lewis was a religious scholar. He brought deep knowledge to his reflections on grief. He also was familiar, prior to H.'s death and certainly after she died, with religious platitudes. Write a developed essay that covers what Lewis says he will discuss about religion and how he will respond. Also discuss what Lewis will not discuss about religion and what he will assume from that particular topic. Describe why Lewis distinguishes among these topics.

Essay Topic 3

Throughout the book, Lewis cries out to have H. come back to him. He wants what they had together and is torn by his wanting. In Chapter Three, Lewis records an unexpected surprise that happened one morning. What was the surprise? Describe the details of the experience. What was the result of the surprise?

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