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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Who is the main character in the book?
(a) The two sons.
(b) H.
(c) God.
(d) C. S. Lewis.

2. To what does the author compare clinging to the memory of one who has died?
(a) Cold grave stones.
(b) Snow falling on objects, covering their identities.
(c) Hallucinations.
(d) Death itself.

3. In what sense does the author agree that H. is with God, as some friends say?
(a) Like God, H. is unimaginable.
(b) Like God, H. responds to prayer.
(c) Like God, the author must believe H. exists without proof.
(d) Like God, H. is all-knowing.

4. How does God seem to respond to the author's agony?
(a) With a feeling that Lewis' wife continued to live.
(b) With the gift of comfort.
(c) With a sense of nearness to Lewis.
(d) With silence.

5. What is A Grief Observed a series of?
(a) Research papers.
(b) Reflections.
(c) Short stories.
(d) Essays.

Short Answer Questions

1. How does the author say a mother who has lost a child responds to words of comfort about where the child is?

2. What accounts for a mother's response to comforting words regarding a lost child?

3. According to the author, what would happen if two lovers died at the exact some moment?

4. What pseudonym did the author use?

5. In his grief, where did the author want to revisit?

Short Essay Questions

1. Does Lewis have trouble believing that God exists? Explain.

2. Describe some people whom Lewis thinks are having negative reactions to Lewis and his grief?

3. What is it about cancer that prompts some of Lewis' reflections?

4. How did Lewis feel years ago about a friend's life after death? Contrast that experience with the way that Lewis experiences H. after her death?

5. What does Lewis realize is the problem with deciding to think less about himself and more about H.?

6. What does Lewis find so horrifying about the man he encountered who was tending to his mother's grave? What does Lewis's reaction to the man mean for Lewis's feelings about H.?

7. In what ways does Lewis reflect a mother who has lost her child can and cannot find comfort? For what does a mother mourn in that situation?

8. Lewis is surprised about the way that grief intrudes upon his daily responsibilities. What are some symptoms Lewis experiences about the laziness of grief?

9. What does Lewis experience when he finally goes to a place where he and H. had been happy?

10. How does Lewis think people react when they encounter him?

(see the answer keys)

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