The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down Quizzes

The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down Quiz 1

By Kristin Sherwood · Edited by Aaron Suduiko · Last reviewed May 27, 2015

1 Why do Hmong traditionally like to keep the placenta after a baby's birth?

They bury it under the house in order to ensure the health of the child during his or her lifetime.

They use it to ward off evil spirits, or dab.

They believe a person's soul returns to the placenta and puts it on before journeying to the place where it will be reborn.

They believe it is good luck to eat the placenta.
2 What is a "tvix neeb"?

an evil spirit who can prevent a woman from becoming pregnant

a shaman who can negotiate with the spirits for his patients' health

a midwife who attended the birth of Hmong children

a Hmong doctor who deals primarily with physical ailments
3 What did Foua think about her experience giving birth at an American hospital?

She was upset by the lack of respect for traditional customs.

She was impressed by the doctors' expertise and considered it a luxury to be fed hospital food.

She was impressed by the number of people there to help her and complained only about the food.

She was confused by the experience and longed for the kind of birth she was used to in Laos.
4 When and where did Lia officially receive her name?

at a soul-calling ceremony three days after her birth

at the hospital immediately after her birth

at a soul-calling ceremony about a month after her birth

at home when she received her birth certificate
5 Which of the following was NOT a part of the soul-calling ceremony?

Lia's father sacrificed a pig to invite the soul of one of her ancestors to be reborn in her body.

Lia's parents and elders tied strings around her wrists to bind her soul to her body.

Lia was placed in a cloth carrier embroidered with a soul-protecting motif.

Live chickens were slaughtered and their bodies examined for signs that Lia's soul was happy to reside in her body and her name was a good one.
6 In what country have the Hmong lived during most of their history?

the United States

Thailand

Laos

China
7 Why did the Chinese dislike the Hmong?

They were unable to make them pay taxes.

They were upset by the Hmong's attempts to push their culture on the Chinese.

They disliked their bellicose manner.

They were offended by the fact that the Hmong preferred to keep to themselves and maintain their own customs rather than assimilating.
8 Which of the following is NOT a country where many Hmong have migrated?

Laos

India

Burma

Thailand
9 Which of the following is NOT a characteristic of the Hmong, according to their history?

They would rather fight than take orders or surrender.

They tend to compromise in order to maintain the peace.

They have a lot of courage.

They tend to believe their own customs are superior.
10 What happened right before Lia's first seizure?

The family thought they saw a dab, or evil spirit.

She fell out of her crib and hit her head.

Her sister slammed the door.

Her mother fed her something to which she turned out to be allergic.
11 How did the Lees view Lia's epilepsy?

They were concerned for her health but also proud, as epileptics are often chosen to be shamans and can see things others cannot.

They were concerned that she had been possessed by an evil spirit.

They had no idea what was causing the seizures and were frightened of them.

They were extremely worried due to the seriousness of the disease.
12 Which of the following is NOT a challenge faced by the Merced Community Medical Center (MCMC)?

The hospital lacks skilled doctors and modern equipment.

The majority of patients are on public assistance and lack private insurance to pay for treatment.

The hospital has a large number of Hmong patients, yet it has no budget for interpreters.

Doctors have a hard time taking medical histories of Hmong patients due to language barriers.
13 Why did the doctors at MCMC fail to correctly diagnose Lia with epilepsy at first?

The hospital is poorly run and staffed by unqualified doctors.

There were no senior doctors present, only medical residents, and they were unfamiliar with her symptoms.

Her symptoms indicated that she had bronchitis instead.

Lia's seizures had stopped by the time she got to the hospital, and there was no interpreter to explain what had happened.
14 Which of the following is NOT a reason the Hmong do not like Western doctors?

They use needles to administer antibiotics.

They require patients to take off their clothes.

They require blood tests and cannot make an immediate diagnosis.

They ask rude and intimate questions.
15 Which of the following is NOT taboo in Hmong culture?

surgery

autopsies

antibiotics

anesthesia
16 Which of the following methods do the Hmong traditionally use to cure disease?

ceremonies conducted by a shaman

herbs

dermal treatments

all of the above
17 What did Dwight Conquergood do that made his public health campaigns a success among Hmong refugees in Thailand?

He delivered information using characters from Hmong folktales.

He taught the children first, and the children taught their parents.

He had a clan elder share the information with his clan.

He paid refugees to vaccinate their dogs against rabies and take similar health precautions.
18 What is "status epilepticus"?

a condition in which an epileptic remains immobile despite having a seizure

a condition in which an epileptic has a series of five or more seizures in a row

a condition in which an epileptic remains unconscious for twenty minutes or longer as he or she has a seizure

a condition in which an epileptic continues to seize uncontrollably for thirty minutes or more
19 What are the names of Lia's doctors at MCMC?

Dee and Tom Korda

Dan Murphy and Jeanine Hilt

Neil Ernst and Peggy Phelp

Sue and May Ying Xiong
20 What did the doctors need to do to make Lia stop seizing?

make her swallow the correct dosage of pills

tie her limbs so she wouldn't hurt herself and wait for the seizures to stop on their own

give her shots with anticonvulsant medication

administer anticonvulsant medication via an IV
21 Why was it so hard to give Lia an IV?

She hated IVs and would fight the doctors.

Her parents had to be convinced each time to allow the doctors to administer the medication.

She was quite overweight.

She was very small.
22 Why didn't Lia's parents give her the correct medication?

Lia disliked taking pills, and it was often difficult to force her to take them.

Her drug regimen was complicated and it was hard for them to understand what to do.

Lia's parents were trying to avoid the medication's side effects.

All of the above
23 What was one of the side effects of Lia's medication?

high blood pressure

hyperactivity

memory loss

all of the above
24 Why did Neil and Peggy feel angry with the Lees?

They didn't seem to appreciate what the doctors were doing for them.

It was hard to watch them fail to give Lia the medication they felt she needed to live a normal life.

They showed no deference to the doctors' many years of schooling, awards, and time spent educating themselves about the Hmong.

All of the above
25 Why did Neil recommend that Lia be placed in foster care?

He wanted her to live near a better medical facility.

He worried that her parents couldn't give her enough attention because they had so many other children.

He felt that her parents were jeopardizing her health by not following her medical regimen.

He wanted to punish her parents for their noncompliance.

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