SparkNotes: Ordinary People: Review Quiz

Calvin Jarrett is a(n):

(A) Banker

(B) Advertising agent

(C) History professor

(D) Tax attorney

Most of the novel is set in a suburb of:

(A) Minneapolis

(B) Chicago

(C) New York

(D) Cleveland

Conrad's dead older brother was named:

(A) Buck

(B) Steve

(C) Allen

(D) John

Conrad's brother was killed in a:

(A) Car accident

(B) Boating accident

(C) Farm accident

(D) Fight at school

The after-school sport that Conrad quits is:

(A) Fencing

(B) Football

(C) Soccer

(D) Swimming

Conrad's girlfriend is named:

(A) Susan

(B) Jennifer

(C) Karen

(D) Jeannine

Conrad gets into a fist fight at school with:

(A) Lazenby

(B) Stillman

(C) Van Buren

(D) Anderson

At one point in the novel, Conrad goes out to a diner for a Coke with:

(A) Karen, his friend from the hospital

(B) Beth, his mother

(C) Jennifer, a girl in his math class

(D) Lisa, one of his friends' sisters

At the end of the novel:

(A) Beth leaves Conrad and Calvin

(B) Beth and Calvin get a divorce

(C) Beth and Calvin make amends

(D) Beth and Conrad move to Houston to be away from Calvin

Beth and Calvin take a golfing trip to:

(A) Boston

(B) Houston

(C) Palm Springs

(D) Las Vegas

A short while after the death of his brother, Conrad:

(A) Tried to commit suicide

(B) Dropped out of school and became a drug addict

(C) Ran away from home

(D) Moved in with his grandparents

Conrad's psychiatrist is:

(A) Dr. Anderson

(B) Dr. Hanley

(C) Dr. Berger

(D) Dr. Lazenby

In school, Conrad is a(n):

(A) 8th grader

(B) Junior

(C) Senior

(D) Conrad does not go to school because he dropped out

Calvin's colleague who once had a shaky marriage is:

(A) Ray Hanley

(B) Joe Emerson

(C) Steve Lazenby

(D) Jude Fawley

When Calvin thinks about his son, he usually becomes:

(A) Happy

(B) Angry

(C) Worried

(D) Overjoyed

Other works by Judith Guest include:

(A) Errands, Killing Time in St. Cloud

(B) M Is for Murder, The Sunshine Days

(C) Patty Jane's House of Curl, Summers at the Lake

(D) The Boy Who Loved Water, Drowning in Tears

One of the books Conrad has to study in his English class is:

(A) Lolita

(B) The House of Mirth

(C) The Crying of Lot 49

(D) Jude the Obscure

In order to help himself fall asleep at night, Conrad begins to:

(A) Take sleeping pills

(B) Masturbate

(C) Drink Nyquil

(D) Exercise heavily before going to bed

Whenever Calvin and Beth go out of town, Conrad:

(A) Stays home alone

(B) Stays with his grandparents, Howard and Ellen

(C) Moves in with the Lazenbys

(D) Stays with his aunt

While Conrad was in the hospital, his mother:

(A) Visited him every day and cried at his bedside

(B) Went to Spain and traveled around Europe

(C) Stayed at home and refused to visit him

(D) Tried to convince him that he was all better and could come home

At the end of the novel, Conrad learns that Karen has:

(A) Moved to Evanston

(B) Moved to Minnesota with her mother

(C) Gone back to the hospital

(D) Committed suicide