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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. When did Gawande’s father become a U.S. citizen?

2. What does Gawande say made Alice Hobson unhappy with her assisted living facility?

3. How does Gawande characterize the similarity between nursing homes and prisons?

4. What does Gawande say Lou Sanders was scared of?

5. Where does Gawande say he witnessed the most hellish conditions of his life?

Short Essay Questions

1. What perspective does Gawande’s father offer on Alice Hobson’s aging process?

2. What happened to Keren Wilson’s vision of assisted living facilities, as the idea took off?

3. How does Gawande say Keren Brown Wilson ended up starting her first assisted living facility in the 1980s?

4. When did the experience of aging and dying come home for Gawande?

5. What are the challenges Gawande describes in Alice Hobson’s declining health?

6. How does Gawande characterize the finances of geriatrics?

7. How does Gawande describe the development of this problem in medicine?

8. Who was the first person Gawande says he personally witnessed get old and decline?

9. How does Lou Sanders’ story mark a development of Gawande’s argument in Being Mortal?

10. How does Gawande describe the transition from traditional forms of elder care to the (failing) modern forms of care?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Write an evaluative review of Being Mortal. What is this book’s place in our culture? Who will find this book most useful? What are its uses? What are its limitations?

Essay Topic 2

Evaluate your own reading of Being Mortal—did you resist it, or were you compelled by the story? What does your reading tell you about yourself and your interests? Use specific examples from the book to describe yourself as a reader.

Essay Topic 3

Which character does Gawande connect you with most intensely? Why? What part of the story did you connect with? Which individuals were you least connected to, or even put off by? How does Gawande guide your sympathies in his storytelling?

(see the answer keys)

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