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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. How much did it cost Joan and John to rent a house on Franklin Avenue in Hollywood many years ago?

2. When did Quintana and Gerry fly to California?

3. Who wrote "A Grief Observed"?

4. How old were Joan and her brother when her mother was dying?

5. What book did Joan buy, but have difficult deciphering the language?

Short Essay Questions

1. What advice about attending funerals did Joan read that was written by Emily Post in her 1922 book of etiquette?

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

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

4. How did John, Joan, Gerry and Quintana spend Thanksgiving 2003?

5. What was Joan's first column like that she wrote for "Life"?

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

7. What incidents indicated that Joan was not thinking clearly?

8. Describe John's funeral.

9. Why was John depressed in 2003?

10. What did Freud say about grief?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

From the time Joan was a child, she thought a great deal about meaninglessness. Discuss how Joan found meaning in her life, giving examples and quotes from the book.

Essay Topic 2

The way that Joan initially reacted to her husband's death was different from how she reacted in the weeks and months that followed. Compare how Joan initially reacted to her husband's death to how she reacted in the weeks and months that followed. Give examples and quotes from the book to support your statements.

Essay Topic 3

Joan was troubled that everything had been so ordinary the night John died. Discuss what the ordinary had to do with sudden death or disaster. Give examples from the book to support your statements.

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