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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. What is the "corporate characteristic" that Viorst mentions in Chapter 15?
(a) A family's community involvement.
(b) A family's business or legacy.
(c) A family's collective character.
(d) A family's medical history.

2. What is the name of Elisabeth Kubler-Ross's highly influential book?
(a) Death Comes for the Archbishop.
(b) On Death and Dying.
(c) O, Death, Be Mine.
(d) The Last Cattle Call.

3. Who else, besides mothers, links separation and danger?
(a) Fathers.
(b) Grandmothers.
(c) Nannies.
(d) Aunts.

4. According to Viorst, in middle age we inspire far less ________ than we do ___________.
(a) Hatred; love.
(b) Respect; pity.
(c) Admiration; annoyance.
(d) Lust; respect.

5. According to Chapter 13, there can be no human love without what?
(a) Passion and romance.
(b) A caring parental relationship.
(c) Ambivalence.
(d) Fear.

Short Answer Questions

1. What is the key achievement of mid-life according to Viorst?

2. What sort of thing did Selena's children no longer want her to do when they separated?

3. Friends and intimate partners are considered what?

4. The title of Chapter 12 lists what?

5. Which three fictional characters discussed in the book does Viorst specifically mention in Chapter 20?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. According to Freud, is it unusual to have sexual feelings toward friends? How does this impact our friendships with the opposite sex?

3. What is the fundamental tension in all man-woman marriages?

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

5. Other than a parent, what other things impact who a child becomes?

6. What happens in our thirties, in relation to our parents?

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

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

9. What does it mean if a child and mother aren't a good fit?

10. Name two of the stages of mourning that Viorst describes in Chapter 16.

(see the answer keys)

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