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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. With only three weeks left in the school year, what does Mr. Bernstein hope for?
(a) That Rev. Fickett will let him join another church.
(b) That Betsy Goodman will pass her classes and graduate.
(c) That he will win the lottery before he loses his job.
(d) That Lisa Shilling will complete school and become someone else's problem.

2. Why does Mr. Shilling reject Rev. Fickett's and Mr. Milne's assertion that Lisa Shilling is suffering from serious mental illness?
(a) Because he knows that Lisa is beyond help.
(b) Because he hasn't seen any strange behavior at home.
(c) Because he knows that Lisa likes to fake problems to get attention.
(d) Because Lisa was always a timid child.

3. Who emotionally begs Rev. Fickett and Mr. Milne to do more to convince Lisa Shilling's father that Lisa needs immediate mental health care?
(a) Mary Nell Fickett.
(b) Lisa Shilling.
(c) Elizabeth Frazer.
(d) Betsy Goodman.

4. Lisa Shilling says a specific thing in the movie Raintree Country makes her "'a little nervous'" (p. 70). What is that thing?
(a) The strobe-like lighting.
(b) The mental illness of the character portrayed by Elizabeth Taylor.
(c) The way the movie has been colorized from the original black and white.
(d) The scene in the insane asylum.

5. 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?
(a) She thinks Betsy has tried to harm Lisa.
(b) She thinks Lisa was pushed by Betsy.
(c) She tells the girls they are making it all up.
(d) She believes them.

Short Answer Questions

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

2. Elizabeth Frazer, Betsy Goodman, and Mary Nell Fickett's intense and initial conversation about diagnosing Lisa Shilling is interrupted when...

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

4. After Mr. Shilling rejects Rev. Fickett's and Mr. Milne's request to obtain medical help for Lisa Shilling, what does Rev. Fickett say to his daughter?

5. Early in their developing friendship, Lisa Shillings makes Betsy Goodman promise that...

Short Essay Questions

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

2. Describe Lisa Shilling's punctuality and dependability.

3. What techniques does Mrs. Shilling utilize to ignore her daughter Lisa's symptoms of mental illness?

4. 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.

5. 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?

6. 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?

7. Describe the typical group therapy session involving Lisa Shilling, Betsy Goodman, Mary Nell Fickett, and Elizabeth Frazer.

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

9. Describe some of Lisa Shilling's self-destructive behaviors.

10. 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?

(see the answer keys)

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