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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 does Gawande say is the problem with courage?

2. What did Gawande see stacked along the river bank when he and his guide set out to dispose of his father’s ashes?

3. What does Gawande say his father’s chance of being paralyzed by surgery were?

4. Why does Dave Galloway say he does not want to take his pain medication when his cancer is troubling him?

5. What percent of Americans does Gawande say died at home in the 1980s?

Short Essay Questions

1. What compromises does Gawande make, to give Jewel Douglass a “palliative operation” (240)?

2. How does Gawande characterize the work that remains to be done in medicine?

3. What are the instructions Gawande’s father left, for the disposal of his remains?

4. How does Gawande say that dealing with elderly patients changed his medical approach?

5. How does Gawande say the western medical model is spreading throughout the world?

6. How does Gawande describe what the real job of people in medicine should be?

7. What effect did Thomas’ changes have on the residents?

8. What technique does Atul Gawande learn from a palliative care physician, and use with Jewel Douglass?

9. How did Bill Thomas’ idea play out?

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

Which character does Gawande connect you with most intensely? Why? What part of the story did you connect with? Which individuals were you least connected to, or even put off by? How does Gawande guide your sympathies in his storytelling?

Essay Topic 2

Write an evaluative review of Being Mortal. What is this book’s place in our culture? Who will find this book most useful? What are its uses? What are its limitations?

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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