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

2. Who said, "In erotic love, two people who were separate become one. In motherly love, two people who were one become separate."
(a) Erich Fromm
(b) Harriet Lerner
(c) Ingrid Bergman
(d) Sigmund Freud

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

4. Which of the following psychoanalysts said we create religion to "exorcise the terrors" of nature?
(a) Erich Fromm.
(b) Stanley Greenspan.
(c) Erik Erikson.
(d) Sigmund Freud.

5. Viorst's poem, "I bring the children one more glass of water," is about what?
(a) A dream of helping children find clean water.
(b) The anxieties of going to sleep as a child.
(c) Being an overworked mother.
(d) Sex not being so sexy anymore.

Short Answer Questions

1. 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"?

2. In Chapter 14, Viorst lists what about her hometown?

3. Viorst thinks about development as a lifelong series of what?

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

5. According to a psychologist in Chapter 13, husbands and wives are each other's what?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

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

4. Which necessary loss is discussed in Chapter 12?

5. What types of unexpected emotions can we feel towards friends? How do they impact our friendships?

6. What are a few of the difficulties of a marriage relationship mentioned in Chapter 13?

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

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

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

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

(see the answer keys)

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