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. In what year does the prologue to the book begin?

2. According to the narrator in Chapter 11, what does young Margaret do about the conflicts consuming her brothers?

3. Whom does Jim marry in Chapter 8?

4. What is Mimi’s real first name, as revealed in Chapter 1?

5. What is the name originally given to schizophrenia, as discussed in Chapter 2?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Donald begin to show signs of mental instability in Chapter 7?

2. What happens during Thanksgiving in Chapter 15?

3. What does Robert Freedman discover in Chapter 24? What does he develop as a result?

4. How does Michael feel about his family upon returning home in Chapter 21?

5. What tragedies befall Mary in Chapter 23? How does she react to them?

6. How is Margaret affected by her home life, as revealed in Chapter 11?

7. What impact did the theory of the schizophrenogenic mother have on families, as explained in Chapter 4?

8. Who is Father Freudenstein and why does he become close to the Galvins in Chapter 3?

9. How does Jim distance himself from his older brother in Chapter 6?

10. What happens to Brian in Chapter 16?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

How does the theory of the schizophrenogenic mother influence the Galvin family? Evaluate the effects of this theory, using textual evidence for support.

Essay Topic 2

Schizophrenia devastates six of the Galvin sons, but it affects each of them differently. What similarities and what differences do the Galvins experience regarding their illness?

Essay Topic 3

Write an essay defining duty from the perspective of Lindsay. What is duty, according to Lindsay? How do the choices she makes reflect these values?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 627 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample