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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. How does Styron explain his approach to his self-destruction?
(a) It was fully deserved.
(b) He was going to choose a painless method.
(c) Melodramatic, one part of him the actor, and one part of him the audience.
(d) He knew he would hurt his wife, but had to do it.

2. What is Styron's avoidance of death due to?
(a) The recognition he got from others.
(b) His homage to his mother.
(c) His writings and intellectual endeavors.
(d) His love for his wife.

3. In addition to anxiety, what other characteristic of depression becomes manifest?
(a) Argumentative with family and friends.
(b) An inability to be still, constantly moving.
(c) Deep, dark imaginings.
(d) Incessant talking.

4. What does Styron say would prevent many suicides?
(a) Immediate hospitalization.
(b) Strong support from family, friends, and professionsals.
(c) Stronger medicines.
(d) Someone to watch the depressed person at all times.

5. How does his diary represent his mental state?
(a) That when he wanted to destroy it, he was close to his own death.
(b) It contained all his thoughts and feelings.
(c) It was a treatise on mental illness.
(d) It corresponded to his moods as he wrote about them.

6. Why does Styron consult with Dr. Gold, who he didn't feel could really help him?
(a) To satisfy his wife, who demanded he get treatment.
(b) To get help for his friend, Camus.
(c) To look good to the press.
(d) To receive the medicines he thought would help him.

7. What is Styron's reaction to being admitted to the hospital?
(a) He is afraid his friends will desert him.
(b) He is depressed about it.
(c) He is afraid his wife will leave him.
(d) He feels safe for the first time since he became depressed.

8. Which novel character does Styron compare himself with?
(a) Rhett Butler from "Gone With the Wind."
(b) Captain Ahab from "Moby Dick."
(c) Lennie from "Of Mice and Men."
(d) Emma Bovary from "Madame Bovary."

9. What is a daily presence during the depth of Styron's depression?
(a) Tears
(b) His wife.
(c) Death.
(d) His children.

10. According to Styron, what is the greatest fallacy about suicide?
(a) That suicide is a painless way to go.
(b) That people only have to "buck up."
(c) The idea that there is one particular cause.
(d) That all depressed people commit suicide.

11. What term does Styron use to describe his depression?
(a) A hole in his heart.
(b) A deep hole.
(c) A black tempest.
(d) An excruciating pain.

12. What note does Styron want to copy for his goodbye letter?
(a) "No more words; an act. I'll never write again."
(b) "This is the end. Don't mourn."
(c) "Life is no longer worth it."
(d) "I am sorry for any pain I cause. My pain is greater."

13. What piece of music moves Styron to his breakthrough and hospitalization?
(a) Chopin's Funeral March.
(b) Beethoven's Fifth.
(c) Brahms's Alto Rhapsody.
(d) Halleluah Chorus.

14. What does Styron's psychiatrist do that sends him into a deep depression?
(a) Puts him in the hospital.
(b) Tells him he was never going to recover.
(c) Tells him to leave his wife if he wanted to get better.
(d) Tells him he would have to wait ten days before starting his new medicine, and then it would take 6-8 weeks to work.

15. What is the phenomenon in which young victims of loss harbor guilt and rage for their entire lives?
(a) Fear and anxiety.
(b) Lack of bonding.
(c) Incomplete mourning.
(d) Depression.

Short Answer Questions

1. How does Styron mange to avoid the recommended shock treatment?

2. From Job to Styron's day, he says artists and writers have been trying to do what?

3. What is so frustrating about depression for artists, musicians, and scientists?

4. How did Lincoln attempt to vanquish death due to his own hand?

5. What does the depression and sense of hopelessness cause Styron to do?

(see the answer keys)

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