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. A man in his forties confessed to Viorst that he reviewed his life insurance policy after he was diagnosed with what?
(a) Heart disease.
(b) Gout.
(c) Tennis elbow.
(d) Cancer.

2. The title of Chapter 12 lists what?
(a) Types of friendships.
(b) Types of adults.
(c) Types of parenting styles.
(d) Types of teenagers.

3. Intimate male-female relationships are rare because of what?
(a) The sexual tension.
(b) Women would just rather talk to other women.
(c) The adultery factor.
(d) Socially unacceptable norms.

4. In Chapter 16, Viorst quotes which psychologist who wrote the book Loss?
(a) Jean Piaget.
(b) John Bowlby.
(c) Erich Fromm.
(d) Erik Erikson.

5. Which three fictional characters discussed in the book does Viorst specifically mention in Chapter 20?
(a) Emma Bovary, Alex Portnoy, Ivan Ilych
(b) Hamlet, Oedipus, Owen Meany
(c) Margaret, Alex Portnoy, King Lear
(d) Holden Caulfield, Hamlet, Marlow

Short Answer Questions

1. Levinson calls a mid-life crisis what?

2. According to Chapter 14, parents suffer from the one of the following in a similar fashion to children.

3. Simone de Beauvoir once said, "Old age is life's ___________."

4. Who said the following? "Now she is aware of some of the losses you incur by being here -- the extraordinary rent you have to pay as long as you stay."

5. What was the name of the married woman with four children, mentioned in Chapter 12, who formed a non-sexual friendship with another man?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is described as the ultimate separation in Chapter 18?

2. What impact does middle age tend to have on a marriage?

3. According to the book, why are friends so important?

4. What are some of the different types of loss and mourning discussed in Chapter 16? Do we experience them all in the same way?

5. Which necessary loss is discussed in Chapter 12?

6. What does Freud say about religious thoughts of an afterlife?

7. According to the book, when does the way we will handle aging begin?

8. Viorst suggests two necessary losses in Chapter 14. Name one of them.

9. According to Chapter 17, what redefines us throughout our lives?

10. What can happen as a result of a mother's fear that her child's psyche is fragile? How can this affect the child?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 747 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample