Deck 15: Good Life, Good Death Trying to Make Sense of It All

Question 1

In the nineteenth century, to die in the Civil War represented:

A) a good and honorable death
B) a peaceful afterlife
C) a noble or sacred death
D) a violation to the conditions of a good death.

Answer 1

D

Question 2

For Weisman, the appropriate death is one that:

A) society considers most acceptable
B) would be the death that we would choose for ourselves if we really had a choice
C) is most likely to earn salvation
D) involves slipping away without awareness.

Answer 2

B

Question 3

Statistics from the Netherlands (fairly comparable with those of the United States) indicate that roughly only ______ can have much control over the way he or she dies.

A) one in four people
B) two out of five people
C) one in three people
D) one-half of people

Answer 3

C

Question 4

The terrorist tragedy of the World Trade Center (WTC) towers on September 11, 2001 sent out the following message about death:

A) that dying instantly was a form of the "good" death
B) that death under such horrific conditions left no time for pain before actual death, which meant it was a good way to die
C) that death through terrorist actions would lead to martyrdom
D) that individuality or the individual meant nothing.

Question 5

Which of the following statements about Socrates' death is most accurate?

A) He died alone, abandoned by his friends.
B) He served as a historical model for facing death with equanimity and humor.
C) He spent his last days discussing the meaning of life and death.
D) Both b and c.

Question 6

The number of people with AIDS in India, now at four million, is estimated to increase to ______ million within the next few years.

A) 8
B) 10
C) 25
D) 15

Question 7

Byock's account of his father's final illness makes all the following points, EXCEPT:

A) elderly people should not be put on life-support systems
B) death can be experienced as relief and release
C) there may still be positive experiences after a life-threatening crisis
D) physicians who manage terminal care effectively can still be shook up by deaths in their own family.

Question 8

A common sentiment among the baby boomers is exemplified by the statement of Billie S., a hospice patient, about death:

A) Death is release from infirmity.
B) Death frees us from old age.
C) Death allows escape from pain and suffering.
D) Life is a party that is still going on, and I don't want to go (death as "leaving the party").

Question 9

Throughout world history, people often feared growing old because of possible:

A) infirmity
B) suffering
C) abandonment
D) all of the above.

Question 10

Death as a theme in lullabies has:

A) become more common in modern times
B) become less common in modern times
C) seldom occurred at any time in history
D) developed from the leisure time enjoyed by women at home.

Question 11

The ancient "death as enfeebled life" model implied that:

A) death is not so dramatically different than life
B) death is something worse than living
C) death is transformation
D) death might be more difficult if one has not lived a virtuous life.

Question 12

Contrary to historical views of the elderly as infirm, active elderly men and women today usually report that they are:

A) well satisfied with their lives
B) depressed by feeling useless
C) longing to be young again
D) just marking time until their lives end.

Question 13

The central position of the ______ theory is "people who consider themselves to have full and satisfying lives are less anxious about death."

A) salient
B) regret
C) satisfaction
D) fulfillment

Question 14

Which statement most accurately sums up the current status of time in terms of life and death?

A) Technology has produced the ability for humans to "shift" time.
B) The current time perspective is consistent with previous centuries' view.
C) Time's rule has now been challenged.
D) Both a and c.

Question 15

One powerful trend with the potential for weakening our sense of deep connection, including our ability to appreciate the real death of real people, is:

A) the desire for increased autonomy
B) the continued use of war for economic progress
C) the development of virtual reality
D) the lack of communication skills.

Question 16

Omar Khayyam's famous eleventh-century verse, "The Moving Finger…" offers the reminder that:

A) life always gives us another chance
B) the only safe place to live is in the past
C) time doesn't offer us a second chance
D) religious faith can overcome the relentless passage of time.

Question 17

Kastenbaum expresses concern that as people become increasingly engrossed in computer-mediated images and icons it will become even easier to:

A) evade the realization that death is a central fact of life
B) make decisions that endanger the lives of others through a few key strokes
C) both of the above
D) none of the above.

Question 18

Which of the following does NOT represent one of Thomas More's positives for Utopia?

A) No death
B) No private property
C) No unemployment
D) No vice

Question 19

One way Utopian values of a good death can be affirmed is by:

A) refraining from war so citizens can die from natural causes
B) exposing entire families to battlefield death
C) suicide when an individual is no longer capable of contributing to the community
D) the willingness of citizens to eliminate the concept of "Them."

Question 20

A good death in Utopia occurs:

A) when it conforms with the commonwealth's priorities
B) with the achievement of dying as a respectable citizen
C) when individuals die on the battlefield protecting the commonwealth
D) both a and b.

Question 21

Which of the following have been identified as an example of "the good death"?

A) Our most significant personal relationships are affirmed.
B) The highest values of society are affirmed and enacted.
C) A transfiguring personal experience occurs.
D) All of the above.

Question 22

An assumption that people everywhere would fear a death marked by extreme physical, mental, and spiritual suffering is a consideration of:

A) Proposition 1
B) Proposition 2
C) Proposition 3
D) Proposition 4.

Question 23

The notion of heroism as a good death is a consideration of:

A) Proposition 1
B) Proposition 2
C) Proposition 3
D) Proposition 4.

Question 24

"Ah, now that you are here, I can die easily" is an example of:

A) Proposition 3
B) oppositional death
C) relationship-affirming death
D) both a and c.

Question 25

All of the following are frames of mind that can be associated with the good death as a transfiguring experience EXCEPT a:

A) sense of adventure
B) sense of mystical awareness
C) need to avoid the stressful realities of dying and separation
D) need to avoid spiritual manifestations afflicting one's life.

Question 26

Which of the following is NOT part of John Donne's Devotion 17?

A) Each person, no matter how celebrated, dies alone.
B) All people everywhere have a common bond; each death is a loss to all.
C) All that lives should have compassion toward all that lives.
D) None of the above.

Question 27

The extinction of all life could be called the supreme act of:

A) utopia
B) thanatopia
C) thanatocide
D) Darwinian death.

Question 28

______ observations led him to the conclusion that life forms are related to each other in a complex web of circumstances.

A) Donne's
B) Freud's
C) Kastenbaum's
D) Darwin's

Question 29

The earliest mass extinction occurred about ______ years ago, the most recent mass extinction occurred about ______ years ago.

A) 4 million; 1 million
B) 43 million; 1 million
C) 439 million; 65 million
D) 439 million; 1 million

Question 30

Which of the following does NOT represent one of Kastenbaum's suggestions for individuals when contemplating a good life or good death?

A) Doubt that death will be able to make up for mistakes made in life.
B) Treasure life in all its forms.
C) Buddhist and Hindu perception makes pretty good sense.
D) Live life to the fullest by increasing risk and danger.

Question 31

Dutch scholar Herman H. van der Kloot Meijburg (2005) confirms that often we have the opportunity to shape the end of our lives as we might choose.

Question 32

Socrates could have escaped execution but he chose not to.

Question 33

Often AIDS patients endure a social death or ostracism along with a physical death.

Question 34

In the nineteenth century, how a person died was crucial to determining how well he or she had lived and what the afterlife would hold.

Question 35

Socrates' response to the order of execution historically is considered a good death that flowed from a good life.

Question 36

When put in historical context, fewer people today view death as a release from a burdensome life.

Question 37

The palliative approach to a good death is still far from a universal practice.

Question 38

The ability to shift time by means of virtual reality is an important challenge to life- and death-related circumstances.

Question 39

One characteristic of Utopia is "no vice," which means individuals can sensually indulge in earthly delights.

Question 40

Religion was eliminated in Utopia to reduce the bloodshed that potentially would rise from intergroup differences.

Question 41

According to Thomas More, in a societal Utopia, the honor of the community is placed above the lives of its citizens in times of war.

Question 42

In Utopia, death is good when pleasure is gone and one can no longer be of use to others.

Question 43

In Utopia, a suicide is an acceptable form of good death as long as it is approved by the priests and the senate.

Question 44

According to Kastenbaum's Proposition 1, a good death cannot be achieved because there is no value in death.

Question 45

Oppositional death occurs when one died in battle, fighting the opposition.

Question 46

According to Kastenbaum's Proposition 3, the good death is when dying individuals can have all the people from their lives affirm those relationships by spending the remaining time with them.

Question 47

According to Kastenbaum's Proposition 5, a good death is one in which people continue to be themselves.

Question 48

Kastenbaum's Proposition 5 is identical to Weisman's (1972) concept for a good death: the death a person would choose for himself or herself.

Question 49

Mass extinctions have occurred at least three times in the distant past.

Question 50

Populations that exceeded carrying capacities have been suspected as the cause for most of the mass-extinction episodes.

Question 51

Appropriate death

Question 52

. Horrendous death

Question 53

List the five meanings that have been given to death.

Question 54

Discuss the palliative approach to a good death and how it relates to "quality of care."

Question 55

What are the seven positives that are best expressed through a list of negatives regarding the concept of Utopia?

Question 56

List Kastenbaum's five propositions regarding a "good death."

Question 57

Explain the relationship between Thanatos and Eros as depicted by Sigmund Freud.

Question 58

Describe the way Ira Byock, M.D., founder of the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine, was stunned, moved, and instructed by the death of his father to be an advocate for improved terminal care or a "good death."

Question 59

Explain what Hayslip and Peveto (2004) meant by the statement "death may be becoming less salient in everyday life." Do you agree with their assessment? Give reasons to support your opinion.

Question 60

Summarize Kastenbaum's review of the history of communication and explain his concerns regarding virtual reality and computer technology.

Question 61

Explain Kastenbaum's notion of what death would be like in Utopia.

Question 62

Kastenbaum wrote a personal statement regarding … from a good life to a good death. Write your own personal statement as to your individual life as leading to a good death and what your personal good death would be.