Educated: A Memoir

Multiple Choice and Long Answer questions create ideal opportunities for whole-text review, unit exam, or summative assessments.

Multiple Choice

1. In Chapter 4, Westover details a family trip to Arizona that ends with a near-fatal car accident. This anecdote best displays which of the following character traits?

A) Mother’s naiveté.

B) Father’s stubbornness.

C) Grandma’s obliviousness.

D) Westover’s immaturity.

2. How did Westover escape from the Y2K preparations her father was making to ready the family for the Days of Abomination?

A) She would walk in the woods.

B) She would read her favorite book, Emma.

C) She would attend rehearsals for Annie.

D) She would play hide-and-seek with neighborhood kids.

3. Which of the following moments from Chapter 10 foreshadows the demise of the relationship between Westover and Shawn?

A) When Shawn calls out to Faye: “Tara’s as hot-headed as a kettle.”

B) When Shawn “fixes” Westover’s neck by violently jerking it.

C) When Shawn refuses to give Westover her pillow back.

D) When Shawn lets Westover’s gelding loose.

4. When Westover is first introduced to the Internet in Chapter 14, she uses it primarily to do what?

A) Research if her brother Shawn has a record with the police.

B) Send emails to her long-lost love, Charles.

C) Chat on AIM instant messenger with her friends.

D) Research colleges, especially BYU. 

5. Which of the following is not a reason why Westover feels out of place at BYU?

A) Her roommates wear “immodest” clothes.

B) She had never heard of “the essay form” in her English class.

C) She had never heard of Cicero and Hume in her American history class.

D) She can’t afford to buy lunches from her college’s cafeteria.

6. Who does Westover consider to be her first friend from the “normal” people’s world, as described in Chapter 20?

A) Grandma-down-the-hill

B) Charles

C) Dr. Kerry

D) Sadie

7. In Chapter 21, how does Westover’s experience with an earache contribute to her understanding that her family’s way of life might be misguided?

A) She takes over-the-counter medicine and it helps immediately.

B) Her father prays for her ear to be healed, and it does nothing.

C) A doctor examines her ear and reveals that she is partially deaf, due to a blow to the head that occurred in infancy.

D) She uses an herbal tincture, as prescribed by her mother, which makes the earache worse.

8. When Gene gets severely burned after an explosion on a work site, what is the primary reason why Westover delays coming to visit him?  

A) She’s angry at him for never treating his bipolar disorder.

B) She can’t afford the bus ticket home.

C) She has strep throat and worries about infecting Gene.

D) She is worried about taking time away from her studies.

9. When Professor Steinberg comments to Westover that, in meeting her, he feels as though he’s “stepped into Shaw’s Pygmalion,” what does he mean?

A) Westover’s ragged clothes remind Steinberg of the vagabonds that appear in Pygmalion.

B) Like the linguist with the poor girl in Pygmalion, Dr. Steinberg sees potential in Westover.

C) Westover has an oddly formal way of speaking, almost as though she was speaking from a play.

D) Westover bears an uncanny resemblance to Audrey Hepburn.

10. When local news stations come to interview Westover about her scholarship to Cambridge University, why does her father become enraged?

A) Because she did not mention her home schooling.

B) Because women aren’t meant to be in the public eye.

C) Because she neglected to wear her gold cross necklace.

D) Because she did not mention her Mormon upbringing.

11. At Cambridge, what subject does Westover elect to study for a piece of original research, which makes her feel as though she’s betrayed her family?

A) The false promise of essential oils.

B) The curative power of modern medicine.

C) The faith of Mormonism as an intellectual movement.

D) The consequences of untreated bipolar disorder on family structures.

12. Compare how Westover deals with Shawn’s abusiveness in earlier chapters to how she deals with it in Chapter 34. How has she changed?

A) She calls the police, whereas before she remained silent.

B) She punches Shawn square in the jaw, whereas before she would never touch him.

C) She allows her mother to come to her defense, whereas before she handled things alone.

D) She realizes she cannot cope with her family turning a blind eye to Shawn’s abuse, whereas before she thought she could remain a part of the family.

13. After Shawn threatens to hire an assassin to murder Westover, Audrey sends an email that makes Westover believe he may have mended his ways. What did the email say?

A) That Shawn had been cleansed by the Atonement of Christ.

B) That Shawn had started a new business venture and, as such, has turned over a new leaf.

C) That Shawn was now being medicated for bipolar disorder.

D) That Shawn just found out he was going to be a father, and so he’s vowing to be a better man.

14. In Chapter 36, Westover refuses a gift from her parents, and Gene reacts by saying that, unless she accepts, he sees disaster ahead for her. What was the gift?

A) An LDS Bible

B) A priesthood blessing

C) A sacrament tray

D) Temple garments

15. Westover observes in Chapter 39 that there is a chasm in the family. Which of the book’s themes most closely correlates to the primary reason for this divide?

A) Finding one’s place in the world: Some of the family have the urge to see the world, the rest do not.

B) Education: Half of the family have PhDs; the other half do not have formal education.

C) The challenge of memory: Some of the family don’t believe Gene and Shawn ever committed violence, because their memories are distorted.

D) Belief: Half of the family still believe in Mormonism; the other half are now atheists and/or agnostics.

Long Answer

Compose a response of 2-3 sentences, incorporating text details to support your response.

1. In the early chapters of the book, how does Westover’s storytelling emphasize that some of the family’s issues are not visible to a child? Why is this important?

2. At the conclusion of the memoir, Westover reflects on who she was and who she has become, all in relation to the mountain of Buck’s Peak. How does the mountain help chart her growth?