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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What did Lynch have a drink of every night?

2. How did Jessica Mitford refer to undertakers' work on human bodies?

3. In what year was Thomas Lynch's first child born?

4. What town did Lynch explore while on his trip in Chapter 5?

5. To what medical procedure did Lynch refer when speaking about people's aversion to funerals?

Short Essay Questions

1. What are the dangers of viewing the dead as an "embarrassment?"

2. If the dead don't care, why did Lynch get up in the middle of the night to tend to the newly deceased?

3. Why did the Lynch brothers take care of their father's body rather than allow a local undertaker to do the job?

4. Why was Henry Nugent unable to get relief from his heartbreak following his divorce?

5. How did Lynch "resolve" his feelings about the existence of God?

6. How did Lynch convey the sensuality of the preparation and eating of the artichoke?

7. What did Lynch mean when he stated that "one hand washes the other" in Chapter 1?

8. How did Lynch try to maintain some of the old traditions after he fixed up the Irish cottage when Nora passed away?

9. According to Lynch, why do people find it important to have bodies to bury?

10. What is the essential difference between burying the old and burying infants?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Lynch described the toilet as an invention that was essential in robbing us of our ability to deal directly with the less savory aspects of life, including the eventuality of death for us all. Do you agree with this? Does the fact that we no longer have to deal in an intimate manner with our life cycle make it more difficult to deal with that cycle? Has death become something we are embarrassed by? If so, how does that affect our attitude toward the dead?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss the significance of Stephanie's tragic death. Recall that the name on the stone that killed her was the same as the one on the stone next to which she was buried. Was that significant? Was it merely chance or did it provide some insight into the role of faith and coincidence? Discuss the individual choices mentioned by Lynch (the hand of God, the devil did it, etc.). Are any of them satisfactory? Could all of them be right?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss Lynch's friend, Matthew Sweeney. What does his hypochondria say about his attitude toward life? Is he wasting or damaging his life in useless worrying? Or does his worrying simply indicate a deeper understanding of life and acceptance of the fact that death is inevitable? Does his hypochondria place limits on how he lives his life or does it free him to embrace with gusto the good aspects of life (such as fine food)?

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