Lying Awake Quizzes

1 What do the chapter titles refer to?

Feast Days

people in the Bible

historical figures from the Discalced Order of the Carmelites.

names of random saints
2 What is Sister John's birth name?

Helen

Mary Joseph

Miriam

Teresa
3 Who is John of the Cross?

founder of the Discalced Order of the Carmelites famous for writing a poem called "The Dark Night of the Soul."

John the Baptist, one of Jesus' disciples

the person who made Jesus' cross

the priest who gives the sacraments to the nuns
4 What is the reason for Sister John's visions?

drug overdoses

snakebite

poison

epileptic seizures
5 What is the name of Sister John's doctor?

Dr. Sheppard

Patricia

Mr. Yoshinobu

Father Aaron
6 Who is the famous novelist who had the same kind of epilepsy Sister John does?

Dostoevsky

Dickens

Tolstoy

Faulkner
7 Why does Sister John's mother come see her in the monastery?

to sever ties with Sister John

to apologize for how she treated Sister John

to ask Sister John to leave the monastery

to tell her about her half-siblings
8 When does Helen first start realizing she wants to become a nun?

when her grandmother died

after Christmas Mass, when she talks to Sister Priscilla

when she was watching the moon landings

when Sister Priscilla made her run the lap around the school a second time
9 Why does Sister John ultimately decide to go through with the surgery?

because she doesn't want the visions anymore

because she does not want to be a burden to her sisters

because the pain is too severe

because she is afraid of death
10 Why does Sister Miriam's father want her to leave the monastery?

because he thinks it's a cult

because he wants her to get married

because he thinks she is seeking attention

because he is controlling
11 Why is the diagnosis of epilepsy so severe for contemplatives?

because you can't cure it

because epilepsy is a curse

because it prohibits them from fulfilling their duties

because epilepsy can cause seizures that seem like visions from God
12 Why does Sister John keep vigil?

to see if God will speak to her

to pray all night with her sisters

to decide whether or not to do the surgery

to see if she can have another vision
13 What is Sister John's book based on?

St. Teresa

Her visions

life in the monastery

different saints
14 What do the proceeds from Sister John's book go toward?

a new roof for the monastery

a selection of juices

a trip to Italy

supporting her grandmother
15 How does Father Aaron advise Sister John?

Don't do the surgery. These visions are a gift from God and to get rid of them would be scorning God's plan for your life and for how he wants to use you.

Seek alternative methods. Make surgery your last option.

Do the surgery. Your job is to be faithful at all times even if you feel like he is far away.

You are probably closer to grace now than ever before because you are learning that loving God is about following Him, not the benefits you get out of it.
16 Why does Mother Emmanuel want Sister John to be Claire Bours' novice mistress?

because Sister John has a Master of Fine Arts like Claire does

because Sister John has not been anybody's novice mistress yet

because Sister John and Claire are related

because Sister John knows what it's like to try to do God's will even when she doesn't know what it is
17 On what Feast Day does Sister John first come to the monastery?

Our Lady of Mount Carmel

Holy Thursday

Beheading of John the Baptist, Martyr

Triumph of the Cross
18 Who is Sister Teresa?

Sister John's novice mistress

the prioress of the monastery

Sister John's aunt

the saint that Sister John was asked by the Vatican to write a poem on and present in person
19 How does Helen's mother end all her letters?

Write soon!

Come visit me!

Tell your grandparents hello for me!

I love you!
20 What does Sister John see in her last vision?

her mind becoming like broken glass

the voices of the saints and contemplatives as a tapestry through time and space

an ember carried upward by the heat of an invisible flame

a hand trying to grasp itself
21 What is the Miserere?

an ancient psalm of repentance that the sisters recite weekly, accompanied by flagellation

an illness

depression

a solemn piece of music composed by Mozart
22 Where and when is Lying Awake set?

The Vatican in Italy, 1984

A monastery in the heart of Carmel, 1969

A monastery in the heart of Los Angeles, 1997

A monastery in Rome, 1995
23 What does Helen daydream about doing for the chickens entrapped in the farm?

Giving them names.

Setting them free. Later they will worship her as a goddess.

Eating them. Helen's favorite food is fried chicken.

Cutting their nails, because they kept scratching her
24 What realization does Sister John have that breaks her out of her period of drought?

that faith is the evidence of things hoped for, of things not yet seen.

that her community provides all the grace she needs.

God is present everywhere. Therefore he can never and has never been absent.

that God will never stop loving her, even when she doesn't feel it.
25 Who shares Sister John's recovery room at the hospital?

A teenage girl shot in the head

Mother Emmanuel and Sister Mary Michael

Sister Teresa, whose body is shutting down

Dr. Sheppard

Lying Awake

by Mark Salzman

Lying Awake Quiz 1

Lying Awake Questions and Answers

Study Guide for Lying Awake