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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 much of the population does Gawande say is over 65 in Germany, Italy and Japan in 2017?

2. What does Gawande say Laura Carstensen found in terms of people’s values in life?

3. What does Ivan Ilych die of?

4. When does Gawande say Keren Wilson founded the first assisted living facility?

5. How old was Alice Hobson when she was widowed?

Short Essay Questions

1. What kind of conditions does Gawande witness at the Guru Vishram Vridh ashram in India?

2. What happened to Keren Wilson’s vision of assisted living facilities, as the idea took off?

3. How does Gawande describe the development of this problem in medicine?

4. What events led to Alice Hobson saying “I’m ready” to her son, and then dying?

5. What is the triumph in the story of Felix and Bella Silverstone?

6. What perspective does Gawande’s father offer on Alice Hobson’s aging process?

7. When does Gawande say that we acquired the medical system in which people hand over their autonomy to doctors?

8. How does Gawande describe his personal reaction to his patients’ deaths?

9. What does Gawande say about the theory that we just “fall apart” as we age?

10. What was Lou Sanders’ experience of assisted living like?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Where is the climax of this book? Are there different climaxes? What questions does each climax resolve? What questions does each climax leave unanswered?

Essay Topic 2

Evaluate your own reading of Being Mortal—did you resist it, or were you compelled by the story? What does your reading tell you about yourself and your interests? Use specific examples from the book to describe yourself as a reader.

Essay Topic 3

Write a character sketch of the author based on her style and content. What can we tell about him, based on the choices he makes in terms of description, characterization and information presentation? What values does he hold dear? What are his hopes and fears? What kind of person do you think he is? Anchor your sketch in passages in the book.

(see the answer keys)

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