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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 Kevorkian's attorney suggest for the doctor?

2. If he was cremated, where did Reader want his ashes scattered?

3. In what year did Jack Kevorkian assist in his first suicide?

4. What was Kevorkian's training in?

5. What was the first name of the girl Lynch met and fell in love with?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

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

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

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

6. Why did Janet Adkins ask Jack Kevorkian to assist in her suicide?

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

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

9. What did Lynch mean when he said that "in even the best of caskets, it never all fits"?

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

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

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 3

Houses used to be the location of many of life's most significant occurrences (birth, courtship, marriage, death and funeral preparation). Today, many American homes have rooms that are rarely used (living rooms) and rooms that appear to be nothing more than trophies (huge kitchens in homes where eating out is the norm). How has this change affected society? How has it affected the ability of families to remain close to one another? Are there any benefits to this arrangement? How has isolating key aspects of life from one another affected us?

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