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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. Of the people who died in hospice care in the U.S. in 2010, what percent does Gawande say died at home?

2. How much of Medicare spending goes to the 5% of patients who are in their last year of life?

3. What does Gawande say changed Bill Thomas’ life to raise his expectations?

4. What did Gawande’s father make Gawande promise him?

5. Where had Thomas worked before Chase Memorial?

Short Essay Questions

1. What was Bill Thomas’ experience prior to starting as the director at the Chase Memorial Nursing Home?

2. What are the advantages and disadvantages of Gawande ending on a personal note?

3. What definition of courage does Gawande arrive at, from his discussion of Plato’s Laches dialogue?

4. How does Gawande characterize the ceremony for disposing of his father’s ashes?

5. How did Bill Thomas’ idea play out?

6. How did Gawande and his mother differ on the question of how to handle Gawande’s father’s care as death came closer?

7. How does Gawande say that end-of-life care costs affect the American medical system?

8. How do Gawande’s father’s two doctors approach his condition differently?

9. What does Gawande say goes into a “comfort pack” (162)?

10. What are the three stages Gawande describes in medical development countries go through?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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?

Essay Topic 2

What has your personal experience been, of the issues Atul Gawande discusses in his book? How have you and/or the people around you been affected by the decisions people make about their last time? How are those decisions reflected in people’s regular lives?

Essay Topic 3

What is the reform you would suggest or support, to change the nature of elder care in our culture? What problem would your reform address, and what are the potential complications it would create? Who would be in favor of your reform, and who would not? Why?

(see the answer keys)

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