Broken by Jenny Lawson: 20-Question Book Quiz
Quiz Instructions
This quiz covers the entire memoir Broken by Jenny Lawson. Questions are divided into four sections: Plot/Sequence (8), Character Motivation (5), Theme/Symbol (4), and Synthesis (3). Each question is either multiple‑choice or short‑answer. After completing the quiz, check your answers with the key below. Need a refresher? Visit the main book summary page, browse questions and answers, or read the ending explained.
Plot / Sequence (8 Questions)
1. In Chapter 2, what embarrassing noise does Jenny accidentally make on a bus?
- A) Burping loudly
- B) Dog‑toy fart noises
- C) Sneezing uncontrollably
- D) Snoring obnoxiously
2. According to Chapter 4, how many separate times had Jenny lost a shoe while wearing it?
- A) Four
- B) Five
- C) Six (with a placeholder for a seventh)
- D) Eight
3. In Chapter 5, why does Jenny go to a drugstore to buy condoms?
- A) To protect her dog’s paws from snow
- B) To use as a Halloween costume
- C) To prank her husband Victor
- D) To make a waterproof bag for her phone
4. What voice does Jenny imagine her immune cells have in Chapter 8?
- A) A high‑pitched cartoon mouse
- B) Samuel L. Jackson’s voice
- C) A British narrator
- D) Her own inner monologue
5. Which medical treatment does Jenny undergo for treatment‑resistant depression in Chapter 13?
- A) Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT)
- B) Ketamine infusions
- C) Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS)
- D) Deep brain stimulation
6. In Chapter 16, what animal does Jenny try to befriend with a Hot Pocket?
- A) A raccoon
- B) A squirrel
- C) An owl (Owly McBeal)
- D) A feral cat
7. What everyday object sparks the main argument about brokenness in Chapter 24?
- A) A cracked coffee mug
- B) A non‑vibrating electric toothbrush
- C) A torn pair of jeans
- D) A dead cell phone
8. During the kayak trip in Chapter 34, what word does the guide mispronounce, causing laughter?
- A) “Dinoflagellates” (pronounced “dino flatulence”)
- B) “Mangrove”
- C) “Bioluminescence”
- D) “Estuary”
Character Motivation (5 Questions)
9. Why does Jenny compose a list of awkward things she has said to strangers?
- A) To entertain her online followers
- B) To convince her husband Victor she should skip parties
- C) To give to her therapist for treatment
- D) To pitch a comedy routine at an open mic
10. After the stone dove breaks in Chapter 25, why does Jenny refuse to throw it away?
- A) She hopes to glue it back perfectly
- B) She sees it as art that honors her own brokenness
- C) She wants to return it to the store
- D) She is afraid of bad luck if she discards it
11. What motivates Jenny’s friend Maile (Chapter 22) to buy a FasciaBlaster?
- A) Medical advice to treat muscle knots
- B) A desire to reduce cellulite
- C) A dare from Jenny
- D) An infomercial that promised instant weight loss
12. Why does Jenny’s grandmother reread the same Stephen King chapter every week?
- A) She is a slow reader who savors every word
- B) Dementia makes each reading feel new
- C) She is writing a fan‑fiction retelling
- D) The book is a gift she doesn’t want to finish
13. Why does Jenny insist that a non‑vibrating electric toothbrush is “broken”?
- A) The brush is physically cracked
- B) It no longer performs its intended function (vibrating)
- C) The battery is dead and won’t recharge
- D) Victor broke it on purpose during an argument
Theme / Symbol (4 Questions)
14. According to the epigraph (Chapter 1), what does Leonard Cohen say comes through a crack?
- A) Darkness
- B) The light
- C) Water
- D) Hope
15. What is kintsugi, as mentioned in Chapter 25?
- A) A Japanese woodworking joint
- B) A style of folding paper fans
- C) The art of repairing broken pottery with gold‑laced lacquer
- D) A meditation technique for calming anxiety
16. In Chapter 38’s extended metaphor, what do the “shards” represent that people drop as they move through life?
- A) Money and possessions
- B) Love, art, kindness, and inspiration
- C) Physical fragments of a destroyed sculpture
- D) Memories that fade over time
17. Why does Jenny call herself a magpie in Chapter 33?
- A) She is obsessed with shiny objects and steals them
- B) She collects buttons and trinkets from estate sales
- C) She builds nests out of paper clips and foil
- D) She chatters constantly without listening
Synthesis (3 Questions)
18. In Chapter 15, how does Jenny transform everyday embarrassment into something valuable?
- A) By writing it off as a bad dream
- B) By sharing the stories online to build a community of “artless misfits”
- C) By apologizing repeatedly until everyone forgives her
- D) By vowing never to leave her house again
19. What lesson does Jenny draw from the elementary‑school eraser‑branding craze (Chapter 30)?
- A) Peer pressure can lead to permanent physical harm
- B) Damage makes things real, and our scars tell our stories
- C) Adults always overreact to childhood fads
- D) Being popular is worth any amount of pain
20. Why does Jenny keep repeating the phrase “It won’t always be like this” in Chapter 37?
- A) To reassure herself that her depression will lift, as it has before
- B) To remind herself to clean her house before it gets worse
- C) To bargain with her doctor for better medication
- D) To convince her daughter Hailey that growing up is temporary
Answer Key
Plot / Sequence
- B – Dog‑toy fart noises. In the introduction, Jenny demonstrates how vulnerability builds connection by sharing this mortifying story. (Chapter 2)
- C – Six (with a placeholder for a seventh). The chapter lists six separate incidents and ends with a blank space, expecting more losses. (Chapter 4)
- A – To protect her dog’s paws from snow. Jenny first tries water balloons, then condoms as makeshift dog boots. (Chapter 5)
- B – Samuel L. Jackson’s voice. She imagines her immune cells as blind soldiers with that voice attacking her joints. (Chapter 8)
- C – Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS). The chapter documents her diary entries during a course of TMS. (Chapter 13)
- C – An owl (Owly McBeal). She tries to feed a Hot Pocket to the owl; Victor slips on it. (Chapter 16)
- B – A non‑vibrating electric toothbrush. Jenny argues that the toothbrush is broken because it no longer vibrates; Victor says it still works manually. (Chapter 24)
- A – “Dinoflagellates” (pronounced “dino flatulence”). The mispronunciation becomes a shared joke that saves the tense family outing. (Chapter 34)
Character Motivation
- B – To convince her husband Victor she should skip parties. She needs evidence that she is too socially awkward to attend. (Chapter 7)
- B – She sees it as art that honors her own brokenness. She plans to keep it as a talisman; Victor later suggests kintsugi. (Chapter 25)
- B – A desire to reduce cellulite. Maile buys the FasciaBlaster and shows Jenny the bruises; later they joke about “divorce reveal” parties. (Chapter 22)
- B – Dementia makes each reading feel new. Jenny describes her grandmother’s cheerful loss of memory and the comfort she finds in repetition. (Chapter 3)
- B – It no longer performs its intended function (vibrating). Jenny compares it to a broken escalator becoming stairs; the argument becomes a metaphor for subjective brokenness. (Chapter 24)
Theme / Symbol
- B – The light. The epigraph reads: “There is a crack in everything / That’s how the light gets in.” (Chapter 1)
- C – The art of repairing broken pottery with gold‑laced lacquer. Kintsugi makes the breakage part of the object’s history and beauty. (Chapter 25)
- B – Love, art, kindness, and inspiration. In the souls metaphor, these shards fill the cracks in others’ spheres. (Chapter 38)
- B – She collects buttons and trinkets from estate sales. The magpie impulse connects her to her mother and to forgotten women. (Chapter 33)
Synthesis
- B – By sharing the stories online to build a community of “artless misfits.” The viral Twitter thread transforms shame into celebration and connection. (Chapter 15)
- B – Damage makes things real, and our scars tell our stories. Jenny reflects that we are changed by life, and sharing our pain helps us feel less alone. (Chapter 30)
- A – To reassure herself that her depression will lift, as it has before. The mantra counters the lies depression tells and affirms that hope returns. (Chapter 37)
Return to the main Broken summary or browse other book guides and the ending analysis.