View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What is Sharon Crandell's argument against letting Landon die?

2. What is the committee's ultimate decision?

3. What is Margo Cox's profession?

4. What fact must the ethics committee face?

5. What is the situation of Hermann at the time the book was written?

Short Essay Questions

1. What happened to Javier after he quit Hermann?

2. Why did the courts revise Hermann's will after his death?

3. How does Hermann fit in with the other two hospitals in Houston?

4. What happens to Oria Dismuke after Patrick's death?

5. What happens to Armando when he arrives at his new facility?

6. What is Mary Coffey's relationship with Armando?

7. What is Armando's mental state at the beginning of Chapter 9?

8. How does Armando behave with his nurses at Hermann?

9. What are Hazel Mitchell's responsibilities at Hermann?

10. What happens to the Sparks family, in the four years following the events in the book?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Belkin mentions that elder care is a great burden on the medical system, and some have suggested that care be rationed to the elderly. How do you feel about this suggestion? Is it a financially practical option for the health care system? Why or why not? Why is it such a controversial idea? What would the benefits and drawbacks of such a system be? Be sure to cite specific examples from the text to support your thesis.

Essay Topic 2

Analyze the individuals on the Ethics Committee. What are their respective opinions about medical care, and life support? How do their opinions clash with one another, at times? Do you think that their level of comfort with one another is detrimental to their ability to work as a team to help patients? Why or why not? If they met more often, and not so sporadically, would they get along better? Why or why not? Be sure to cite specific examples from the text to support your thesis.

Essay Topic 3

Most of the patients Belkin discusses are poor, and cannot afford their medical care. What do you think a hospital should be required to do in situations when people cannot afford their own care? Should the hospitals be responsible for giving people all of the care they need, regardless of the cost, and give the uninsured equal treatment? Or should there be a limit to what hospitals are required to provide, due to financial limitations? Be sure to cite specific examples from the text to support your thesis.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 955 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample