View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. According to Elizabeth Frazer, Betsy Goodman has something that Elizabeth and Mary Nell Fickett don't have. What are the three traits that Elizabeth enumerates?
(a) Health, wealth, and wisdom.
(b) Strength, dexterity, and constitution.
(c) Warmth, naturalness, and simplicity.
(d) Beauty, intelligence, and education.

2. Mr. Shilling meets with Rev. Fickett, Mr. Milne, and his daughter, and rejects their claim that Lisa Shilling is suffering from mental illness. What does Mr. Shilling do after the meeting ends?
(a) He roughs up his wife and daughters.
(b) He takes Lisa to the hospital.
(c) He starts drinking heavily.
(d) He leaves town on a business trip.

3. As Mary Nell Fickett becomes more self-educated about psychology, what irritating behavior does she start to exhibit?
(a) She starts arguing with everyone all the time.
(b) She starts to speak with big words that nobody else understands.
(c) She develops a facial tic.
(d) She begins to diagnose everyone.

4. Which major character always eats fattening foods like mayonnaise but still has a slim figure?
(a) Betsy Goodman.
(b) Mary Nell Fickett.
(c) Elizabeth Frazer.
(d) Lisa Shilling.

5. Lisa Shilling has her friends promise that they will do something if she becomes violent. What do they promise to do?
(a) To keep it secret.
(b) To capture the episode on video.
(c) To call the police.
(d) To run away.

Short Answer Questions

1. After Lisa Shilling walks through a floor-to-ceiling window and is taken to the hospital, Mr. Goodman, Betsy Goodman, Mary Nell Fickett, and Elizabeth Frazer all attempt to convince Mrs. Shilling that Lisa's actions were a cry for help. How does Mrs. Shilling respond?

2. Lisa Shilling tells her friends that she is always tired. Why is she always tired?

3. Why does Lisa Shilling wait until Mr. Goodman is in the room before she deliberately walks through a floor-to-ceiling window?

4. Which major character does Mrs. Shilling address as "'some sixteen-year-old bitch-to-be'" (p. 116)?

5. Elizabeth Frazer tells Lisa Shilling that if she wants "'to play at sympathy and roses'" (p. 71) she should do what?

Short Essay Questions

1. The Reverend Fickett makes a personal attempt to have Lisa Shilling's condition accepted and treated. With Mr. Milne, a school teacher, he calls upon Mr. Shilling directly. His attempt meets with failure as Mr. Shilling stonewalls him. Should Rev. Fickett have done anything differently? Should Rev. Fickett have given up when he did?

2. After Lisa assaults Elizabeth, she makes her close friends make her a particular promise. What is the promise, and why does she make them accept it?

3. When discussing a movie about mental illness with her friends, Lisa Shilling comments on one particular aspect or scene of the movie that makes her uncomfortable. What is that aspect?

4. Lisa Shilling occasionally talks in a deep, sultry voice with a notable English accent. Betsy Goodman associates this English-sounding Lisa with the dark Lisa. In popular psychology, what type of mental illness would account for this distinction?

5. How might the narrative differ if the protagonists were male?

6. Cover photographs aside, what narratives clues are there that identify the four protagonists as white?

7. Betsy Goodman is watching a television program about a mentally ill (and committed) patient when Lisa Shilling arrives. Why does Lisa's appearance make Betsy uncomfortable?

8. Betsy Goodman believes at one point that she might gain valuable insight into Lisa Shilling's condition simply by watching an Elizabeth Taylor movie. Describe Betsy's reasoning and comment upon it.

9. Betsy Goodman meets with Mr. Bernstein several times and he explains why he cannot become involved. Yet she continues to turn to him for help. Why does Betsy continue to attempt to rely on Mr. Bernstein?

10. Mary Nell Fickett believes that she might fully master the study of abnormal psychology by reading many books. Describe Mary Nell's reasoning and comment upon it.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,444 words (approx. 5 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample