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This quiz consists of 5 multiple choice and 5 short answer questions through Chapter 5.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. How old was Levi when he committed his suicide?
(a) 67.
(b) 74.
(c) 39.
(d) 26.

2. What quote from Baudelaire does Styron use to explain his feelings?
(a) "Man's madness is his downfall."
(b) "I have felt the wind of the wing of madness."
(c) "Madness breeds madness."
(d) "Madness is but a figment of the imagination."

3. According to Styron, what often leads depressed people to commit suicide?
(a) Because they don't love their families like other people do.
(b) Because they don't have a very strong will to live.
(c) Because of moral weakness and lack of character.
(d) Because depression is so deep they can't see any other way out.

4. According to Styron, why is the word depression so hard for people to accept?
(a) It has not been heard of before.
(b) It is the word for a hole in the ground, which is very demeaning for a name of a major illness.
(c) It indicates a weak person.
(d) People can't understand what it means.

5. Why did Styron's publisher have to reschedule a photo session?
(a) Styron refused to come out of his room.
(b) Styron had only smiled in a few pictures but still looked as if in despair.
(c) Styron had left to go to Paris.
(d) Styron was in the hospital.

Short Answer Questions

1. What does the suicide of another of Styron's friends lead him to believe?

2. What happens to Gary's ex-wife?

3. What philosophical question does Gary present as central to all philosophy; a question that confuses Styron until years later when he suffers his depression?

4. What does Styron believe about a depressed colleague's decision to ride with a reckless driver?

5. Styron dates the onset of his deep depression to what event?

(see the answer key)

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