View a FREE sample

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

Short Answer Questions

1. What singing group did Lynch desire to emulate?

2. How many days was Reader waked?

3. Who did Lynch want to serve as pallbearers?

4. Approximately what percentage of Americans move at any given time?

5. When is the Milford Memories festival held?

Short Essay Questions

1. What characteristic of "successful" suicides did Lynch say he admired?

2. Describe Lynch's grandmothers.

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

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

5. How does Lynch view a world in which certain deaths are acceptable (abortion, war, capital punishment)?

6. How did Lynch feel about the prospect of his loved ones feeling guilt at his funeral?

7. Why did Lynch suggest February as a good month for his death and burial?

8. Describe Matthew Sweeney's personality.

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

10. How do most people view undertakers, according to Lynch?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Lynch's parents were fundamentally different when it came to raising the kids. His father was obsessed about potential dangers and would have placed a short leash on all of them if possible. His mother left her worries to God. How did those two ways of child rearing affect the kids? Given the parents' beliefs and life experiences, would it have been possible for either one to act differently? Could there have been a happy medium between the two extremes or was that impossible? Did the two approaches complement one another or interfere with one another?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss the significance of the rebuilding of the Oak Grove bridge. Why was Mary Jackson so determined to have her funeral procession take the traditional route across the bridge to the cemetery? What sentiments did Lynch express in his poem for the dedication? How is a town affected by its proximity to the dead and its willingness to acknowledge, rather than hide, the dead? How were the older funeral processions (past houses rather than businesses) superior to the ones after the bridge collapsed? Why is it important that the dead be remembered?

Essay Topic 3

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?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,083 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample