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. How many stages are there in the journey towards death according to Kubler-Ross?
(a) Ten.
(b) Two.
(c) Five.
(d) Three.

2. What's the title of the book?
(a) Impossible Expectations.
(b) Necessary Losses.
(c) Living is Loss.
(d) Ups and Downs.

3. What is the key achievement of mid-life according to Viorst?
(a) Moving our parents to a nursing home.
(b) Uniting ourselves with reality and achieving balance.
(c) Letting loose and exploring unfulfilled dreams.
(d) Getting the children out of the house.

4. Simone de Beauvoir once said, "Old age is life's ___________."
(a) Final act.
(b) Swan song.
(c) Cruel joke.
(d) Parody.

5. Which famous family does Viorst mention in Chapter 15?
(a) The Kennedys.
(b) The Windsors.
(c) The Vanderbilts.
(d) The Carnegies.

Short Answer Questions

1. Levinson calls a mid-life crisis what?

2. Friends and intimate partners are considered what?

3. Which famous author wrote this about the loss of his cherished wife: "The first plunge of the knife into the flesh is felt again and again"?

4. Madame Bovary uses what metaphor to describe marriage?

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

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

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

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

5. Name the five stages of dying described by Elisabeth Kubler-Ross. Briefly describe each stage.

6. In thinking about losses as a lifelong theme, name some of the juxtapositions that Viorst discusses in Chapter 20.

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

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

9. Why does our focus shift in middle age to discovering our family's history?

10. How does baggage from childhood put pressure on a marriage?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 899 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample