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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What causes Styron to lose his voice in Paris?
(a) Bronchitis.
(b) Severe depression and resulting lethargy.
(c) Screaming until he was hoarse.
(d) Damp weather.

2. How does Styron feel about his Connecticut farmhouse?
(a) He loves spending time there.
(b) He thinks it needed lots of work.
(c) He hates the house, preferring Martha's Vineyard.
(d) It feels ominous to him.

3. What puzzles Styron about Camus's book, "The Fall"?
(a) That the lawyer/narrator would want to kill himself.
(b) It was a good narrative of what a depressed person experiences.
(c) The title didn't fit the story.
(d) It was written so brilliantly though Camus was depressed.

4. What reaction does Styron have to a flock of Canadian geese?
(a) They temporarily restore his good feelings.
(b) He is frozen in anxiety at the sight of them.
(c) He tries to shoot them.
(d) He thinks they are graceful.

5. Right before the onset of his depression, Styron begins to suffer from what?
(a) Hypochondria.
(b) Lack of sexual interest.
(c) Excessive sleepiness.
(d) Extreme joy.

6. Why does Styron say that physical symptoms accompany depression?
(a) Illness leads to depression.
(b) Depressed persons have more illnesses.
(c) The mind can better accept that there is a physical cause than a mental one.
(d) Depressed people are clumsy and suffer several injuries.

7. Why is it hard for Styron to recognize depression in his friend, Gary?
(a) Because he didn't know what depression looked like.
(b) Because Gary was so good at hiding his feelings.
(c) Because Gary always had a melancholy typical of Europeans.
(d) Because he rarely talked to Gary.

8. How did Levi commit suicide?
(a) Hung himself.
(b) Took an overdose of pills.
(c) Stepped in front of a moving car.
(d) Hurled himself down a flight of stairs.

9. Though the death of the poet, Randall Jarrell, was ruled accidental, why does Styron say it was probably suicide?
(a) He wanted to discredit Jarrell because of a disagreement they had.
(b) He wanted to gain support for his theory that depression led to suicide.
(c) Because of Jarrell's depression and the fact there was no reason for him to be on the road on which he was struck by a car.
(d) He didn't want Jarrell's widow to receive the large insurance settlement.

10. What does Styron say about alcohol's mood-altering characteristics?
(a) It is an upper, but depressed him.
(b) It is a depressant, but didn't depress him.
(c) It lightened his mood for a good amount of time.
(d) It had no effect on his mood.

11. How does Styron's body feel in the beginning of his depression?
(a) Manic, hyper, shaky, and strange.
(b) Numb, frail, disjointed, and clumsy.
(c) Energetic, strong, capable, and lively.
(d) Heavy, lethargic, awkward, and bloated.

12. Who arranges a meeting between Albert Camus and Styron?
(a) Cino del Duco
(b) William Styron.
(c) Romain Gary.
(d) Rose Styron.

13. Sir Walter Scott and the Brontes linked what two illnesses interchangeably?
(a) Melancholia and hypochondria.
(b) Cancer and depression.
(c) Influenza and depression.
(d) Lukemia and depression.

14. What effect does Styron's op-ed piece have on the general public?
(a) Many felt he was justified in feeling depressed.
(b) Many suffering from depression were suddenly willing to come forward and admit it.
(c) Many people thought Styron was weak.
(d) Many felt he didn't deserve the del Duco award.

15. After Primo Levi's suicide, what causes Styron to question the common view that those who commit suicide are weak and inept?
(a) Levi was such a good writer.
(b) Levi worked out all the time and was very strong.
(c) Levi was involved in so many good causes.
(d) Levi had survived the Auschwitz and cared for his paralyzed mother.

Short Answer Questions

1. How old was Styron when he published his first novel?

2. What percentage of artistic types who suffer from depression die from suicide?

3. How does Camus's essay influence Stryon's philosophy of life?

4. Which group of people have more incidence of depression than all others?

5. What does Styron think of these two people, who were close literary friends?

(see the answer keys)

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