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This quiz consists of 5 multiple choice and 5 short answer questions through Chapters 6 and 7.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What does Styron realize in Paris that helps him understand what is happening to him?
(a) He can't talk to his wife any more.
(b) The circadian cycle gives him moments of brief respite from the deep depression, giving clarity of thought.
(c) He begins to cry incessantly and realizes he is depressed.
(d) He can't think clearly anymore.

2. What does the depression and sense of hopelessness cause Styron to do?
(a) Write even more in an attempt to understand it.
(b) Run away from his wife and home.
(c) Go to bed for hours every day.
(d) Try to kill himself.

3. Where did Styron meet Hoffman?
(a) At a writer's conference.
(b) At the del Duco award dinner.
(c) At a democratic convention.
(d) He had never really met him, only talked to him.

4. Why does Styron say that physical symptoms accompany depression?
(a) Depressed persons have more illnesses.
(b) Depressed people are clumsy and suffer several injuries.
(c) Illness leads to depression.
(d) The mind can better accept that there is a physical cause than a mental one.

5. Why doesn't Styron recognize Camus's depression?
(a) He didn't know Camus very well.
(b) He had never experienced depression himself, so had no real clue.
(c) Camus hid it very well because he was embarrassed by it.
(d) He didn't believe in depression at the time.

Short Answer Questions

1. How does Styron explain his approach to his self-destruction?

2. What does Styron think after his flashback?

3. Why is it hard for Styron to recognize depression in his friend, Gary?

4. What does Styron's psychiatrist do that sends him into a deep depression?

5. What city is Styron in at the beginning of the memoir?

(see the answer key)

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