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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 does Gawande characterize the decline of health for people with “chronic illnesses—emphysema, liver disease, and congestive heart failure”?

2. How does Gawande characterize the trend among geriatrics departments in hospitals?

3. Where does Gawande say he witnessed the most hellish conditions of his life?

4. What does Gawande say Felix Silverstone’s wife found exasperating about being in a nursing home floor while her bones mended?

5. What does Gawande say older people’s diets tend to be richer in?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Gawande characterize his grandfather’s aging and death?

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

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

4. How does Gawande describe the transition from traditional forms of elder care to the (failing) modern forms of care?

5. How does Gawande characterize the future of geriatrics as a field?

6. What critique does Gawande make of his colleagues in the medical field?

7. Who was the first person Gawande says he personally witnessed get old and decline?

8. How does Gawande explain the fact that our culture has not developed methods for providing better care for the elderly?

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

10. How does Gawande characterize the finances of geriatrics?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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.

Essay Topic 2

How do the problems Gawande describes in health care relate to other problems that are characteristic of American culture? Are American attitudes to health care related to attitudes about climate change? Environmentalism? Labor or environmental regulations? Pick an issue and show how the Americanness is similar or different.

Essay Topic 3

Would you recommend Being Mortal? For what purposes would you recommend Being Mortal, and what kinds of readers would you recommend it for? What other book would you recommend that would cover the same material or tell the same story in a different way?

(see the answer keys)

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