Ch01
Student: ___________________________________________________________________________
1. Brief standardized printed statements following the death of an average citizen are called
A. obituaries.
B. death notices.
C. thanatographs.
D. death dirges.
2. According to George Gerbner, the "mean world" syndrome describes depictions of death in the mass
media as embedded in a structure of violence that conveys
A. security and trust in the world.
B. an enhanced vitality and joy in life.
C. numbness and dismissal of death.
D. a heightened sense of danger.
3. Substitutions of vague words or phrases for ones considered harsh are
A. euphemisms.
B. death porn.
C. the indicative voice.
D. linguistic deliberations.
4. All of the following are musical expressions associated with death EXCEPT:
A. lament
B. keening
C. dirge
D. hautsang
5. In traditional Hawaiian culture, mele kanikau may have been carefully composed or spontaneous and
used
A. at the signing of the will.
B. while sprinkling ashes in the Pacific.
C. during the funeral procession.
D. at the moment of death.
6. In literature, the meaning of death is often explored as it relates to the individual as well as
A. the author.
B. technology.
C. society.
D. the sixth sense.
7. Which of the following is NOT an example of Holocaust literature?
A. Warsaw Diary by Chaim Kaplan
B. Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank
C. Walking Skeleton by Richard Shaw
D. Night by Elie Wiesel
8. Suse Lowenstein's work Dark Elegy functions as a reminder that
A. death is a dark figure.
B. life is fragile and survivors have to live with the loss.
C. classical and Christian symbols of death can be combined.
D. black is the color lining a casket.
,9. ___________________ are an example of a homemade condolence.
A. Comfort quilts
B. Colored headstones
C. Cookies sent from the funeral home
D. Obituaries written by friends
10. Which of the following is NOT a way in which humor functions relative to death?
A. Raises consciousness
B. Encourages togetherness
C. Discourages empathy
D. Defuses anxiety
11. Hibakusha is a Japanese word meaning
A. a town dedicated to eastern spirits.
B. the oil of society.
C. explosion affected.
D. cultural lag
12. Which of the following are considered dimensions of thanatology?
1. Psychological
2. Anthropological
3. Political
4. Rational
A. 1 and 2
B. 2 and 4
C. 1, 2 and 3
D. 2, 3 and 4
13. The largest area of empirical research in thanatology is concerned with the measurement of attitudes
toward death and dying and more particularly
A. death anxiety.
B. hospice care.
C. suicide prevention and intervention.
D. the afterlife.
14. Research into death anxiety has been characterized as
A. an express lane into the fear of death and dying.
B. data which is impractical and generally useless.
C. thanatology's own assembly line.
D. a unitary and monolithic set of variables.
15. In reviewing the status of research and practice in thanatology, Herman Feifel points out that the
A. fear of death is a monolithic variable.
B. human mind operates on various levels of reality or finite provinces of meaning.
C. human mind operates in an interdependent, not autonomous, manner.
D. conscious fear of death is unrelated to innate fears.
16. Which of the following are included in Ernest Becker's "four strands of emphasis" in terror management
theory?
1. The world is a terrifying place.
2. There is always an underlying good versus evil struggle, and good ultimately prevails.
3. Because the terror of death is so overwhelming, we conspire to keep it unconscious.
4. The basic motivation for human behavior is the need to control our basic anxiety, to deny the terror of
death.
A. 1 and 2
B. 2 and 4
C. 1, 2 and 3
D. 1, 3 and 4
,17. The first formal course in death education at an American university was held at
A. University of Miami after the Cuban missile crisis.
B. University of Minnesota in 1963.
C. Harvard University School of Medicine in 1970.
D. University of Chicago in conjunction with the Association for Death Education and Counseling.
18. The major contribution of Elisabeth Kübler-Ross's book On Death and Dying was its focus on
A. social practices and customs related to death and funerals.
B. mourning and gender issues.
C. common patterns associated with near-death experiences.
D. caring for dying patients.
19. In looking toward the future, Hannelore Wass observes that the study of death and dying will
A. die out as people will be less interested in such obscure subjects.
B. become a pop culture phenomenon focused on the "hereafter."
C. be in the hands of the faith community.
D. help individuals and societies transcend self interest in favor of concerns for others.
20. Which of the following is MOST closely associated with nineteenth-century funeral rituals?
A. planting a memorial garden
B. keeping a bedside vigil
C. writing a death notice for the local newspaper
D. buying a casket
21. Which of the following factors does NOT affect our familiarity with death?
A. life expectancy
B. geographic mobility
C. medical technology
D. political decision making
22. Approximately how much has the average life expectancy in the United States increased since 1900?
A. 5 years
B. 15 years
C. 30 years
D. 45 years
23. Epidemiologic transition is BEST defined as the
A. shift in disease patterns characterized by a redistribution of deaths from the young to the old.
B. contribution of Americans' highly mobile life styles to making death less immediate and intimate.
C. change in cultural attitudes toward death as a significant determinant of how we live our lives.
D. trend toward more rapid and sudden death from epidemics.
24. Which of the following BEST describes the phrase "medical technology that seems to one person a
godsend, extending life, may seem to another a curse"?
A. People do not know how to manipulate machinery.
B. People do not believe in the technology.
C. The effect of new technology helps define death.
D. The effect of new technology involves personal and social consequences and trade offs.
25. Which of the following BEST describes a "cosmopolitan" society?
A. Ideas and practices are forward thinking
B. Ideas and practices from other historical periods and cultures are valued and examined
C. Culture, identity, history, and language are guarded from change due to a strong sense of pride
D. Cultural complexity of a globalizing world is rejected
26. Death notices and obituaries differ in that obituaries are brief, standardized, and printed in small type.
True False
, 27. The disruption of survivors' lives, their ensuing grief and coping is generally given a significant amount
of attention during media reports.
True False
28. Images portrayed in the mass media usually add to our understanding of death.
True False
29. On television, unrealistic portrayals of violence can make viewers more sensitive to both real violence
and its victims.
True False
30. A euphemism is a shorthand way of referring to an exciting event.
True False
31. Word choices may reflect changes in how death is experienced at different times.
True False
32. Popular music devotes significant attention to death.
True False
33. Themes of mayhem, misery and murder have long been staples of music. Suicide and deathbed scenes
however are uncommon.
True False
34. Gospel and classical music do not include death themes in their compositions.
True False
35. The Names Project AIDS Memorial Quilt is a small community arts project started in Washington,
D.C.
True False
36. The Vietnam Veterans Memorial is an example of contemporary mourning art.
True False
37. People who describe themselves as religious suffer more death anxiety than their non-religious
counterparts.
True False
38. Researcher Robert Neimeyer found that people who accept the prospect of being dead one day express
less intense fear of death and dying.
True False
39. Sylvia Anthony was a pioneer in the studies of adult survivors of trauma.
True False
40. In the nineteenth century, most people typically purchased coffins and baked homemade desserts to bring
to the home of grieving friends.
True False
41. At the turn of the century, young children were usually forbidden from attending burial rituals.
True False
42. Intermingling of the generations was a normal part of daily life in earlier times.
True False
43. The rapid advancement of technology and social changes has created a "cultural lag."
True False
Student: ___________________________________________________________________________
1. Brief standardized printed statements following the death of an average citizen are called
A. obituaries.
B. death notices.
C. thanatographs.
D. death dirges.
2. According to George Gerbner, the "mean world" syndrome describes depictions of death in the mass
media as embedded in a structure of violence that conveys
A. security and trust in the world.
B. an enhanced vitality and joy in life.
C. numbness and dismissal of death.
D. a heightened sense of danger.
3. Substitutions of vague words or phrases for ones considered harsh are
A. euphemisms.
B. death porn.
C. the indicative voice.
D. linguistic deliberations.
4. All of the following are musical expressions associated with death EXCEPT:
A. lament
B. keening
C. dirge
D. hautsang
5. In traditional Hawaiian culture, mele kanikau may have been carefully composed or spontaneous and
used
A. at the signing of the will.
B. while sprinkling ashes in the Pacific.
C. during the funeral procession.
D. at the moment of death.
6. In literature, the meaning of death is often explored as it relates to the individual as well as
A. the author.
B. technology.
C. society.
D. the sixth sense.
7. Which of the following is NOT an example of Holocaust literature?
A. Warsaw Diary by Chaim Kaplan
B. Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank
C. Walking Skeleton by Richard Shaw
D. Night by Elie Wiesel
8. Suse Lowenstein's work Dark Elegy functions as a reminder that
A. death is a dark figure.
B. life is fragile and survivors have to live with the loss.
C. classical and Christian symbols of death can be combined.
D. black is the color lining a casket.
,9. ___________________ are an example of a homemade condolence.
A. Comfort quilts
B. Colored headstones
C. Cookies sent from the funeral home
D. Obituaries written by friends
10. Which of the following is NOT a way in which humor functions relative to death?
A. Raises consciousness
B. Encourages togetherness
C. Discourages empathy
D. Defuses anxiety
11. Hibakusha is a Japanese word meaning
A. a town dedicated to eastern spirits.
B. the oil of society.
C. explosion affected.
D. cultural lag
12. Which of the following are considered dimensions of thanatology?
1. Psychological
2. Anthropological
3. Political
4. Rational
A. 1 and 2
B. 2 and 4
C. 1, 2 and 3
D. 2, 3 and 4
13. The largest area of empirical research in thanatology is concerned with the measurement of attitudes
toward death and dying and more particularly
A. death anxiety.
B. hospice care.
C. suicide prevention and intervention.
D. the afterlife.
14. Research into death anxiety has been characterized as
A. an express lane into the fear of death and dying.
B. data which is impractical and generally useless.
C. thanatology's own assembly line.
D. a unitary and monolithic set of variables.
15. In reviewing the status of research and practice in thanatology, Herman Feifel points out that the
A. fear of death is a monolithic variable.
B. human mind operates on various levels of reality or finite provinces of meaning.
C. human mind operates in an interdependent, not autonomous, manner.
D. conscious fear of death is unrelated to innate fears.
16. Which of the following are included in Ernest Becker's "four strands of emphasis" in terror management
theory?
1. The world is a terrifying place.
2. There is always an underlying good versus evil struggle, and good ultimately prevails.
3. Because the terror of death is so overwhelming, we conspire to keep it unconscious.
4. The basic motivation for human behavior is the need to control our basic anxiety, to deny the terror of
death.
A. 1 and 2
B. 2 and 4
C. 1, 2 and 3
D. 1, 3 and 4
,17. The first formal course in death education at an American university was held at
A. University of Miami after the Cuban missile crisis.
B. University of Minnesota in 1963.
C. Harvard University School of Medicine in 1970.
D. University of Chicago in conjunction with the Association for Death Education and Counseling.
18. The major contribution of Elisabeth Kübler-Ross's book On Death and Dying was its focus on
A. social practices and customs related to death and funerals.
B. mourning and gender issues.
C. common patterns associated with near-death experiences.
D. caring for dying patients.
19. In looking toward the future, Hannelore Wass observes that the study of death and dying will
A. die out as people will be less interested in such obscure subjects.
B. become a pop culture phenomenon focused on the "hereafter."
C. be in the hands of the faith community.
D. help individuals and societies transcend self interest in favor of concerns for others.
20. Which of the following is MOST closely associated with nineteenth-century funeral rituals?
A. planting a memorial garden
B. keeping a bedside vigil
C. writing a death notice for the local newspaper
D. buying a casket
21. Which of the following factors does NOT affect our familiarity with death?
A. life expectancy
B. geographic mobility
C. medical technology
D. political decision making
22. Approximately how much has the average life expectancy in the United States increased since 1900?
A. 5 years
B. 15 years
C. 30 years
D. 45 years
23. Epidemiologic transition is BEST defined as the
A. shift in disease patterns characterized by a redistribution of deaths from the young to the old.
B. contribution of Americans' highly mobile life styles to making death less immediate and intimate.
C. change in cultural attitudes toward death as a significant determinant of how we live our lives.
D. trend toward more rapid and sudden death from epidemics.
24. Which of the following BEST describes the phrase "medical technology that seems to one person a
godsend, extending life, may seem to another a curse"?
A. People do not know how to manipulate machinery.
B. People do not believe in the technology.
C. The effect of new technology helps define death.
D. The effect of new technology involves personal and social consequences and trade offs.
25. Which of the following BEST describes a "cosmopolitan" society?
A. Ideas and practices are forward thinking
B. Ideas and practices from other historical periods and cultures are valued and examined
C. Culture, identity, history, and language are guarded from change due to a strong sense of pride
D. Cultural complexity of a globalizing world is rejected
26. Death notices and obituaries differ in that obituaries are brief, standardized, and printed in small type.
True False
, 27. The disruption of survivors' lives, their ensuing grief and coping is generally given a significant amount
of attention during media reports.
True False
28. Images portrayed in the mass media usually add to our understanding of death.
True False
29. On television, unrealistic portrayals of violence can make viewers more sensitive to both real violence
and its victims.
True False
30. A euphemism is a shorthand way of referring to an exciting event.
True False
31. Word choices may reflect changes in how death is experienced at different times.
True False
32. Popular music devotes significant attention to death.
True False
33. Themes of mayhem, misery and murder have long been staples of music. Suicide and deathbed scenes
however are uncommon.
True False
34. Gospel and classical music do not include death themes in their compositions.
True False
35. The Names Project AIDS Memorial Quilt is a small community arts project started in Washington,
D.C.
True False
36. The Vietnam Veterans Memorial is an example of contemporary mourning art.
True False
37. People who describe themselves as religious suffer more death anxiety than their non-religious
counterparts.
True False
38. Researcher Robert Neimeyer found that people who accept the prospect of being dead one day express
less intense fear of death and dying.
True False
39. Sylvia Anthony was a pioneer in the studies of adult survivors of trauma.
True False
40. In the nineteenth century, most people typically purchased coffins and baked homemade desserts to bring
to the home of grieving friends.
True False
41. At the turn of the century, young children were usually forbidden from attending burial rituals.
True False
42. Intermingling of the generations was a normal part of daily life in earlier times.
True False
43. The rapid advancement of technology and social changes has created a "cultural lag."
True False
