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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. Where was John's cardiologist when John died?

2. What instrument was played at John's funeral?

3. Why was Quintana admitted to Milstein Hospital shortly after her release from Beth Israel?

4. What was Quintana's temperature the first time she went to the emergency room?

5. What illness sent Quintana to the emergency room in December 2003?

Short Essay Questions

1. What were the first words that Joan wrote after her husband's death?

2. What expensive drug was Quintana given when she developed sepsis?

3. How did friends and relatives help Joan in the first three weeks after John died?

4. What promise did Joan make to Quintana that she realized that she would not be able to keep and why?

5. How did Joan describe people who recently lost someone?

6. What did John look like when Joan saw him in the emergency room?

7. What did Melanie Klein say about grief?

8. Who came to stay with Joan in the weeks that followed John's death?

9. Why were Joan and John evicted from their house on the Palos Verdes Peninsula?

10. Why was John depressed in 2003?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

When Quintana was in the ICU at UCLA, Joan whispered a promise to her, the same promise Joan had been making since Quintana was a child. Discuss the promise that Joan always made to Quintana. Why it was a promise that she could not keep?

Essay Topic 2

After Quintana's release from the hospital and when she flew to California, Joan believed that she might be beginning a new season of life. Discuss why Joan believed she was entering a new season of life and why that season was short-lived. Support your statements with quotes from the book.

Essay Topic 3

After trying to cover the Democratic convention, Joan believed that there was no place she could go and not be reminded of John. Discuss her statement and provide examples from the book.

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This section contains 829 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample