SparkNotes: I Never Promised You a Rose Garden: Review Quiz

From what illness is Deborah suffering?

(A) Multiple personality disorder

(B) Schizophrenia

(C) Bipolar disorder

(D) None of the above

How many years does Deborah stay in the hospital receiving treatment?

(A) Two years

(B) Four years

(C) Three years

(D) One year

Why did Deborah undergo surgery at the age of five?

(A) She had a tumor.

(B) She had a congenital heart defect.

(C) She had a clubfoot.

(D) None of the above

What is Yr?

(A) A ward on the mental hospital where Deborah receives treatment

(B) The name of a patient that Dr. Fried treated in Germany

(C) The imaginary kingdom Deborah created as a defense against the confusing, frightening real world

(D) The name of the hospital where Deborah receives treatment

Why did Joanne Greenberg write I Never Promised You a Rose Garden?

(A) To garner sympathy and respect for the mentally ill

(B) To refute the romanticized myths of mental illness as an altered state of consciousness rich in creative inspiration

(C) To combat the negative stigma attached to the mentally ill

(D) All of the above

How do Esther and Jacob feel about Deborah's illness?

(A) They feel guilty.

(B) They feel ashamed.

(C) They are afraid.

(D) All of the above

How does Deborah feel about the hospital?

(A) She is relieved that she no longer has to hide the symptoms of her illness.

(B) She wants to return home immediately.

(C) She hates her fellow patients.

(D) None of the above

What trauma did Carla suffer in her childhood?

(A) Her mother killed herself.

(B) Her mother killed her brother.

(C) Her mother tried to kill her.

(D) All of the above

Why do the patients torment Hobbs?

(A) He physically abuses them when the rest of the staff isn't looking.

(B) He calls them derogatory names.

(C) Hobbs is also mentally unstable, so he wants the patients to act out their "insanity" to make him look "sane" by comparison.

(D) He is a masochist.

What happens to Hobbs?

(A) He leaves the hospital because he can't stand patients' tormenting any longer.

(B) He retires.

(C) He commits suicide.

(D) He is fired.

Why does Ellis begin working at the hospital?

(A) He is a Conscientious Objector, so the government gave him a choice between prison and working in the mental hospital.

(B) He wants to help the mentally ill.

(C) He is considering a degree is psychiatry, but he wants to see what working with the mentally ill is like.

(D) None of the above

Who is Doris Rivera?

(A) A doctor who works at the hospital

(B) One of Deborah's childhood friends who spurned her

(C) Doris is a former patient who recovered enough to live independently in the outside world before suffering a relapse that required her to return to the hospital.

(D) None of the above

How does Dr. Fried deal with Yr when treating Deborah?

(A) She tells Deborah that Yr isn't real, but she acknowledges that Yr is real for Deborah.

(B) She uses Yr as a map to Deborah's illness.

(C) She treats Yr as a symptom of Deborah's illness, not the illness itself.

(D) All of the above

Which of the following best describes Deborah?

(A) She is terrified of emotional investment in other people.

(B) She is convinced that she has a poisonous, fatal taint.

(C) She wants to recover, but she is afraid of having to live in the outside world.

(D) All of the above

Why do the patients torment Ellis?

(A) He considers himself a Christian martyr, so the patients feed his masochistic desires.

(B) He physically abuses them.

(C) He ridicules their mental illnesses.

(D) None of the above

Why is Deborah pleased when McPherson asks her to stop tormenting Ellis?

(A) It indicates that he not only believes she is capable of empathetic moral behavior, but he expects it.

(B) He acknowledges that she has a mental illness, but he doesn't treat her as a helpless invalid.

(C) His request indicates that he is capable of treating her with the respect one accords an equal.

(D) All of the above

Who is Dr. Royson?

(A) Dr. Royson is the doctor who temporarily takes over Deborah's case when Dr. Fried leaves for one summer.

(B) Dr. Royson is the Blaus' family physician.

(C) Dr. Royson was a school psychologist who first discovered signs that Deborah was mentally ill.

(D) None of the above

Why does Deborah begin burning herself with matches and cigarettes?

(A) To punish herself for what she perceives is her failure to get well

(B) To punish Dr. Fried for leaving the hospital for a summer

(C) To stave off an impending psychotic episode

(D) None of the above

Who is Miss Coral?

(A) A diminutive elderly patient who is capable of great acts of strength during psychotic episodes

(B) The patient who injures Mrs. Forbes, a well-liked attendant at the hospital, during a psychotic episode

(C) The patient who teaches Deborah some Latin and Greek

(D) All of the above

What does Deborah witness Ellis doing to Helene?

(A) Deborah witnesses Ellis sexually abusing Helene.

(B) Deborah witnesses Ellis physically beating Helene into submission.

(C) Deborah witnesses Ellis psychologically tormenting Helene.

(D) None of the above

How does Yr adapt to the world of the hospital?

(A) The gods of Yr threatens to punish Deborah by making her go insane.

(B) The gods of Yr tell Deborah that the hospital was all part of the plan leading to her inevitable destruction.

(C) As Deborah takes steps toward recovery, Yr becomes more and more illogical.

(D) All of the above

Who is the Censor?

(A) A being in Yr who guards the secrets of Yr from Earth

(B) The most powerful god in Yr

(C) A goddess in Yr who is also known as The Dissembler

(D) None of the above

() None of the above

What is the Collect?

(A) The assembly of gods in Yr

(B) The Censor's minions

(C) A chorus of critical voices in Yr who represent all the people who have abused or tormented Deborah in real life

(D) None of the above

How would Dr. Fried best be described?

(A) She is extremely empathetic.

(B) She understands that "sanity" and "insanity" are subjective terms that often have little to do with the reality of mental illness.

(C) She does not betray her patients or their family's with false promises.

(D) All of the above

What does I Never Promised You a Rose Garden imply about the mentally ill?

(A) The mentally ill are courageous people who often have more understanding and appreciation of the prizes of mental health through their suffering.

(B) On the surface, the actions of the mentally ill may often seem completely irrational, but there is often a logic behind them not readily apparent to those who are inexperienced with mentally ill people.

(C) One of the biggest problems that the mentally ill face when they try to live in the outside world is the prevalent, negative stigma attached to mental illness.

(D) All of the above