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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What is the award Styron receives?
(a) He didn't receive one, he was giving one.
(b) Prix Mondial Cino del Duca award.
(c) Newberry Award.
(d) Nobel Peace Prize.

2. What does Styron call the DSM?
(a) Very inaccurate guide.
(b) A guide to treatment.
(c) A good manual.
(d) The psychiatrist's bible.

3. Though the death of the poet, Randall Jarrell, was ruled accidental, why does Styron say it was probably suicide?
(a) He didn't want Jarrell's widow to receive the large insurance settlement.
(b) He wanted to gain support for his theory that depression led to suicide.
(c) He wanted to discredit Jarrell because of a disagreement they had.
(d) Because of Jarrell's depression and the fact there was no reason for him to be on the road on which he was struck by a car.

4. How long does Stryon say it will be before he returns to Paris?
(a) A year.
(b) Forever.
(c) A couple of years.
(d) A month.

5. Styron calls depression:
(a) Terrible sadness.
(b) Very common.
(c) Very rare.
(d) Disorder of mood.

6. What does Styron say about assigning reasons for suicide to those who take that route?
(a) That people who commit suicide are justified in doing it.
(b) That people who commit suicide don't love their families.
(c) That only weak people commit suicide.
(d) Most of the time the cause is not one incident, but overwhelming depression.

7. At what point in one's life does Styron say the seeds of depression are planted?
(a) In middle age.
(b) There is not one particular time, it varies.
(c) In early adulthood.
(d) In childhood.

8. What characteristic of depression make Styron's memoir limited in benefit?
(a) Its complexity made the memoir about only one person limited.
(b) He couldn't give good advice because the depression made him suicidal.
(c) He had to be hospitalized so couldn't finish the memoir in the manner he wanted.
(d) He couldn't write so well because of the immobility of depression.

9. Though Styron admits all professions are susceptible to depression, which profession is the most susceptible?
(a) Doctors.
(b) Lawyers.
(c) School teacherrs.
(d) Artistic types.

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

11. What happens to Styron during his museum visit in Paris?
(a) He runs out and leaves the group he was with.
(b) He complains to his wife about the museum the whole time.
(c) He begins to feel the late evening lethargy that always descends.
(d) He finds inspiration for another book.

12. What pressing question does Styron have about the course of depression?
(a) What medicines are effective?
(b) Why do some who suffered commit suicide while others don't?
(c) Why would a person who has everything still be depressed?
(d) Why doesn't the person just cheer up and get over it?

13. What does Styron say about alcohol's mood-altering characteristics?
(a) It lightened his mood for a good amount of time.
(b) It is a depressant, but didn't depress him.
(c) It is an upper, but depressed him.
(d) It had no effect on his mood.

14. After Primo Levi's suicide, what causes Styron to question the common view that those who commit suicide are weak and inept?
(a) Levi had survived the Auschwitz and cared for his paralyzed mother.
(b) Levi was such a good writer.
(c) Levi was involved in so many good causes.
(d) Levi worked out all the time and was very strong.

15. Right before the onset of his depression, Styron begins to suffer from what?
(a) Hypochondria.
(b) Lack of sexual interest.
(c) Extreme joy.
(d) Excessive sleepiness.

Short Answer Questions

1. What is unusual about Styron's visit to Paris?

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

3. What did Styron do for Hoffman regarding a political demonstration led by Hoffman?

4. What puzzles Styron about Camus's book, "The Fall"?

5. Where does Styron spend his summers?

(see the answer keys)

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