View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Which woman struggles with sibling rivalry, and dividing her attention among her children?
(a) Alice.
(b) Mary.
(c) Ellen.
(d) Joan.

2. After the debacle of her presidency, what did Mary learn was an important element to a happy life?
(a) Strength.
(b) Skepticism.
(c) Trust.
(d) Naivety.

3. To what does Mary compare the experience of being nominated for presidency but never taking the position?
(a) A natural disaster.
(b) A band-aid.
(c) A death.
(d) A piece of classical music.

4. To what does Mary compare the "syncopated rhythms" of caretaking?
(a) Tapping one's foot.
(b) Playing the drums.
(c) Love making.
(d) Heartbeats.

5. What do the roadblocks of separation and division hinder a woman from doing?
(a) Being creative.
(b) Raising a family.
(c) Respecting religion.
(d) Making money.

Short Answer Questions

1. According to Mary, what does a true artist take and turn into a masterpiece?

2. In "The Ode of Imru'u I-Qays", what distracts the woman from making love with her husband?

3. According to Mary, when should caretaking be done?

4. In what way did Erik constantly show care for his wife and Mary during their interview sessions?

5. Which word completes the following sentence: "All of the women in the book have repeatedly salvaged the capacity for ______________ in an imperfect system"?

Short Essay Questions

1. What leads Mary to the statement that all five of the women profiled in the book are "idealists"?

2. How did Mary's views about discontinuity change as she completed this book?

3. How does Johnnetta feel about the need to divide her time between her private and personal lives?

4. In what ways is leading multiple lives similar to having "heightened wisdom"?

5. What is the main difference between men and women in regards to "multiple lives"?

6. In what way does Mary compare caretaking to music?

7. What does Mary mean when she says that all five of the women in the book are "conservers"?

8. What prompted Mary's identity crisis after high school?

9. What was Mary Bateson's father's thesis in his writings about ecology?

10. Why didn't Mary ever become president of Amherst University?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 952 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample