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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. In what state did someone reach the midpoint of their lives?

2. What did Kevorkian's attorney suggest for the doctor?

3. What are people not allowed to do at the trestle known as the Arch?

4. To what Irish hero did Lynch compare Russ Reader?

5. What California town did Lynch imagine dying in in his analogy?

Short Essay Questions

1. Describe Matthew Sweeney's personality.

2. How does Lynch view the current state of debate over abortion?

3. What did Lynch want from his funeral, when all was said and done?

4. What lesson did Lynch want to teach Sweeney with his story of the man killed by the falling vehicle at the scrap metal yard?

5. Describe Lynch's grandmothers.

6. What kind of music did Lynch want at his funeral?

7. What did Lynch see as the advantage of being at the midpoint of one's life?

8. How do Lynch and his wife differ in their views of Milford as they walk through town in Chapter 7?

9. Why have more and more Americans opted for cremation, according to Lynch?

10. How did the funeral processions through town change when the Oak Grove bridge collapsed?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the artichoke poem described in Chapter 5. How did the poet use sexual imagery in describing the vegetable? Why did he choose to describe an artichoke instead of a woman? Why did so many people respond to the poem in the way the author clearly intended? Is there some unspoken connection between food and sex?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss the feasibility of the "golfatorium" envisioned by Lynch. Would Americans accept such a concept? How would it fit into the general American attitude that cemeteries are a waste of land because they don't serve the living? How would it fit into the American concept of one-stop shopping for services? Would it be possible to maintain a sense of respect and dignity for the dead at a golf course?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss Uncle Eddie's suicide cleanup business (note: there are actual businesses that focus on cleaning up scenes of violent deaths, including suicides and murders). How did Eddie's business provide society with a valuable service? How did the cleanup after these deaths usually get done before such services? How is it an act of kindness for an outsider to clean up the scene so that loved ones do not have to see it? How does this relate to the general services provided by funeral parlors and undertakers?

(see the answer keys)

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