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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. Which of the women in the book regularly starts their evening meals with an Armenian prayer?

2. Which word fills in the following sentence from the final chapter in "Composing a Life": All five women live with high levels of _____________?

3. Which of the following items does NOT make up the decoration in Johnnetta's home?

4. To what food item did Joan compare her first home with Erik?

5. Which of the following women lives in Chestnut Hill, in Boston?

Short Essay Questions

1. What type of food did Mary cook for Barkev when they were first married?

2. How do the multiple roles women fill in their daily life affect their self-identity?

3. Why did Jon need a blood transfusion when he was young?

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

5. What has changed about caretaking in recent years, according to Mary's research on society?

6. How is the Project Hope homeless shelter different than the Pine Street Inn?

7. In what ways does Johnnetta's home define her life?

8. What two metaphors does Mary use to describe her emotions in dealing with the Amherst presidency?

9. In what way does Ellen's home define her life?

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Throughout the book, Bateson gives many different examples of ways that individuals care for themselves and those around them. First, define the three different ways one can act as a caregiver, and give examples from the text to support your definitions. Then, choose one woman from the text and explain why you believe she is the best examples of a well-rounded caregiver. What are the benefits of being a good caregiver? What are the downfalls? Be sure to include examples from the text to help strengthen your arguments.

Essay Topic 2

In what ways is wisdom gained through life? Mary has very specific ideas about how one becomes "wise". Explain those ideas in a brief essay using one of the women in the book as an example. What path did this woman take in her pursuit of wisdom? What different types of wisdom did she gain? Do you think all her efforts were consciously in the pursuit of wisdom? How can you tell? Be sure to include examples from the text to help strengthen your arguments.

Essay Topic 3

In the opening of the text, author Mary Catherin Bateson discusses the ways the role of women in the household has changed in today's modern times. First, describe the traditional role of women. Then, compare and contrast that role to the role Bateson describes as the role of the "modern" woman. Finally, choose one woman whose life is explored in the text and describe how that woman's life emulates Bateson's modern woman. Do you think this woman is happy in her improvisational life? Why or why not? Be sure to include examples from the text to help strengthen your arguments.

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