Deck 2: The American Experience of Death

Question 1

The meaning of death is socially determined by human beings rather than determined biologically.

Answer 1

True

Question 2

According to Radcliffe?Brown, religion provides individuals with a sense of comfort and anxiety relief.False

Answer 2

False

Question 3

The empirical research by Michael Leming supported Homans' theorizing on the relationship between religion and death anxiety.

Answer 3

True

Question 4

Eighty percent of current deaths in the United States occur in institutional settings--hospitals and nursing homes.

Question 5

Cryonics suggests a denial of death.

Question 6

The death of an individual is a personal, not a social experience.False

Question 7

Malinowski viewed religion as the "great anxiety reliever."

Question 8

According to the United Nations' definition of death, a death cannot occur until a live birth has taken place.True

Question 9

The Harvard definition of death defines death in terms of respiration and heart functioning.False

Question 10

People tend to fear the process of dying more than the event of death.

Question 11

In thanatology, "death fear" and "death anxiety" are used synonymously.

Question 12

It is only in recent years that we have been able to scientifically determine the real meaning of death.

Question 13

Ultimately, all deaths are brain deaths.

Question 14

In all likelihood, the meaning of death may change in the future as it has in the past.

Question 15

For most persons the process of dying causes less concern than the event of death.

Question 16

According to Leming and Dickinson, the fear of the unknown and the fate of the body are the two areas of greatest anxiety for most persons.

Question 17

Death anxiety is a multidimensional concept.

Question 18

Death is inherently fearful??all people fear death by nature.False

Question 19

Using euphemisms for death suggests that the United States is a death-denying society.

Question 20

When a person dies, many "person" or role occupants die.True

Question 21

Like modern thanatologists, Puritans felt an awareness of death could improve the quality of life.True

Question 22

The case of Terri Schiavo in Florida in 2004-2005 illustrates the importance of an advanced directive.True

Question 23

Scientific naturalism contributed to the hope that physical immortality might be a possibility for future Americans.

Question 24

The centralist theory of the diagnosis of death:

A)was the prominent view in the 14th century.
B)proposed that the entire body and every organ and cell possessed the life force.
C)has been resurrected by the modern theory of brain death
D)both a and b are correct
E)none of the above

Question 25

During the Victorian era in American society, grievers were encouraged to express their emotions in response to the death of a loved one.False

Question 26

At the time of death the family usually sent for a medical doctor to care for the corpse.False

Question 27

The "ideology of separate spheres" in the late nineteenth century contributed to more open discussion of death in American society.

Question 28

Puritans encouraged each other to fear death.

Question 29

The Living Death period of the history of death was from 1830 to 1945.

Question 30

The threat of "megadeath" war inherently calls into question the possibility of all forms of immortality.

Question 31

Puritans were more likely to pray for the soul of the deceased than they were for the comfort of the bereaved.False

Question 32

Death was "resurrected" in America after World War I--the first truly global war.

Question 33

Basically, the United States is a death-denying society, according to your text.
Multiple-Choice Questions

Question 34

Most people dying in the U.S.today die:

A)at home
B)on the highways
C)in a hospital or nursing home
D)on city streets
E)in their sleep at the office

Question 35

Between 1600 and 1830, death was a living part of the American experience.True

Question 36

Perhaps the most accurate way to determine death is via brain death, using an EEG.

Question 37

At the beginning of the twentieth century, the funeral industry attempted to keep death out of sight and out of mind.True

Question 38

It was customary for Puritans to embalm the body before the burial.

Question 39

Middle-class Americans in the late nineteenth century wished to experience death with order.

Question 40

The Harvard definition of death refers to:

A)no heartbeat
B)no longer breathing
C)brain stops functioning
D)both a and b of the above
E)none of the above

Question 41

Which of the following statements is false concerning death-related behavior of the Puritans?

A)Puritans felt an awareness of death that could improve the quality of life.
B)Puritans encouraged each other to fear death.
C)It was customary for Puritans to embalm the body before the burial.
D)The Puritans felt that death was a living part of the American experience.

Question 42

Which is not evidence that the United States is a death-denying society?

A)euphemisms are used for death
B)a taboo on death conversation
C)cryonics
D)having life insurance
E)calling in a professional to handle the body

Question 43

Death was "resurrected" after 1945, why?

A)the atomic age brought about the possible annihilation of the entire human race
B)the losses of millions of soldiers in WWII "brought death home" for the world
C)people began to fear death more because of the increase in infant death
D)because society began to look inward for answers, death as a topic naturally evolved

Question 44

The Puritans encouraged each other to _____________ death.

A)look forward to
B)think about
C)be anxious toward
D)fear

Question 45

According to Leming and Dickinson, which of the following is true.

A)people who have weak religious commitments are most likely to fear death.
B)people who have strong religious commitments are most likely to fear death.
C)people who have moderate religious commitments are most likely to fear death.
D)none of the above has been demonstrated by empirical research.

Question 46

Which of the following is true?

A)according to Radcliffe?Brown, religion provides individuals with a sense of comfort and anxiety relief.
B)with regards to dying, what a person believes has more of an influence than how deeply he/she believes it.
C)George Homans disagreed with both Malinowski and Radcliffe-Brown, arguing that death anxiety is highest for both the very religious and the non-believer.
D)the empirical research by Michael Leming supported Homans' theorizing on the relationship between religion and death anxiety.
E)all of the above.

Question 47

During the Dying of Death Period (1830 - 1945), which did not occur?

A)landscaped rural cemeteries
B)life insurance
C)fall of the middle class
D)professional funeral organizations

Question 48

The case in Florida in 2004-2005 of Terri Schiavo illustrates the importance of:

A)advanced directive
B)A will
C)dying without a will
D)stem-cell research

Question 49

Which of the following statements is false concerning death-related behavior of Americans during the Victorian period of history?

A)Grievers were encouraged to express their emotions in response to the death of a loved one.
B)A more elaborate funeral ritual involving "therapeutic self indulgence" was encouraged.
C)Mourning clothes were worn as one method for extending the period of lamentation.
D)none of the above

Question 50

The middle class in the late 19th century achieved "death with order" by

A)making sure that the death of loved ones occurred in full view of the family
B)the middle class felt that they could not achieve "death with order"
C)creating separate sphere ideology?men's work away from the home, women's work from men's, specialists (medical, clerical, etc.)
D)preparing funeral arrangements far in advance

Question 51

Which of the following statements is false?

A)In most areas of America, a basically "Puritan Way of Death" persisted until the nineteenth century.
B)The "ideology of separate spheres" contributed to more open discussion of death in American society.
C)At the turn of the twentieth century, the funeral industry attempted to keep death out of sight and out of mind.
D)Middle-class Americans wished to experience death with order.

Question 52

The President's Commission for the study of Biomedical and Behavioral Research to study ethical and legal implications regarding death definitions was established by President:

A)Carter
B)Clinton
C)Eisenhower
D)Bush
E)Reagan