Unit 2b Review - Mesmerized

Which detail from Mesmerized best describes the affection that the French people had for Ben Franklin?

• “And they went absolutely gaga over the American in the peculiar fur hat.”

• “Because everyone had heard about Ben Franklin’s famous kite experiment, which showed that lightning was the same as electricity.”

• “The day Ben Franklin first set foot in Paris, France, he found the city all abuzz.”

• “Ben wanted them to send money and soldiers to America.”

Which detail from Mesmerized best describes the reason that Ben Franklin went to France?

• “The ragged, hungry revolutionaries needed France’s help.”

• “Everyone was talking about something new — remarkable, thrilling, and strange. Something called… SCIENCE.”

• “The king didn’t know what to think. But he knew whom to ask. Who else but… Ben Franklin!”

• “Doctors were furious. Their patients didn’t care about regular medicine anymore.”

In some ways, Ben Franklin did not seem like the type of person that others would treat like a celebrity and poets would write verses about.

Which detail from Mesmerized best supports this inference?

• “Ben Franklin’s electricity wasn’t the only mysterious force making a stir in France.”

• “Instead of a fashionable powdered wig, he wore a plain fur hat to cover his bald head.”

• “Fashionable ladies threw him parties and called him mon cher papa (‘my dear papa’).”

• “His report of flying a kite in a thunderstorm to draw down lightning made him the most famous American in the world.”

Mesmer was a stubborn man.

Which detail from Mesmerized best supports this inference?

• “Ben’s gout made it impossible for him to go to Mesmer’s clinic — he couldn’t bear the jolting of a carriage ride — and Mesmer refused to go to him.”

• “In 1778, Mesmer arrived in Paris, where he began treating patients at a fancy hotel.”

• “But Charles D’Elson was happy to visit Ben’s rented estate outside of Paris and demonstrate Mesmer’s discovery to the scientists gathered there.”

• “Meanwhile, in Vienna, a doctor named Franz Mesmer was also experimenting with invisible forces by waving magnets at his patients.”

Which two responses are main ideas from Mesmerized?

• Franklin preferred wearing a fur hat rather than a powdered wig to cover up his bald head.

• Ben Franklin used reason, logic, observation, and science to prove that Mesmer’s force did not exist.

• Mesmer did not engage in some medical practices – such as bleeding his patients – which were common in the 1770s and 1780s.

• One reason people believed in Mesmer’s force was that science was uncovering so many other amazing things at that time.

• Mesmer could make the same glass of water taste like strawberries to some people and vinegar to others.

Which two responses are main ideas from Mesmerized?

• The most important part of the scientific method is observation.

• Franklin’s scientific achievements made him respected and admired figure in France.

• Franklin proved that Mesmer’s force originated in his patients’ minds, not Mesmer’s wand.

• Mesmer was originally from Austria, but he came to Paris around the same time as Franklin.

• In France at this time, doctors were smarter and more logical than bankers, lawyers, and priests.

Which key details from Mesmerized support the idea that people believed in Mesmer’s force because science was uncovering so many other amazing things at that time?

Select the two correct answers.

• “Ben observed lightning flashing across the sky.”

• “Charles waved his fingers near her face, and she screamed.”

• “They gasped at the balloon that floated high above the rooftops carrying a duck, a rooster, and a very nervous sheep.”

• “Parisians giggled at a gas that nobody could see — until it went up in flames.”

• “He wore a powdered wig and a fine coat of purple silk.”

Which key details from Mesmerized support the idea that Mesmer’s force originated in his patients’ minds?

Select the two correct answers.

• “Then it was Ben Franklin’s turn. He didn’t gasp and he groan or twitch and tremble.”

• “When Charles moved behind her back, the woman shrieked that she felt burning — IN HER LEG!”

• “Ben said he needed to see for himself what Dr. Mesmer’s force could do.”

• “Ben’s ‘blind’ test was such a good idea that it is still in use.”

• “Dr. Mesmer said his force helped people who were sick. What kind of sickness? Any kind!”

Read the summary of the scene in which Franklin arrives in France.

Everyone in Paris was talking about scientific advances. People marveled at the discovery of invisible gases. They thrilled to the flight of the first hot air balloon.

Which detail best completes the summary?

• And they liked Ben because he was so uniquely American in every way.

• But they didn’t know that Ben Franklin, a great scientist, was coming to their city.

• They even got a little excited about Ben Franklin’s minor experiments with electricity.

• So they went wild for Franklin, whose scientific achievements were world famous.

Read the summary of the scene in which many people in France rush to be seen by Dr. Mesmer, but not all approve of his methods.

People from many different professions eagerly paid Mesmer to treat them. But doctors were not among them. Indeed, many French doctors were very angry. They were losing patients.

Which detail best completes the summary?

• Plus, they didn’t believe that Mesmer’s force was real.

• Yet there was no one to whom they could tell their complaints.

• But they agreed that Mesmer was a brilliant healer.

• So they demanded that Ben Franklin take action to help them.