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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What does Khe Sahn wear to Thanksgiving dinner in "Season's Greetings..."?
(a) An extremely short dress
(b) Nothing
(c) A bikini
(d) A dress Jocelyn made for her

2. Why does the narrator of "After Malison" agree to let the old man sit at her table at the hotel bar?
(a) She wants to get him to buy her a drink.
(b) She believes he is Malison.
(c) She wants to study him for a piece of writing she is working on.
(d) She feels sorry for him.

3. How does the author's bedroom differ from the rest of his childhood home in "The Curly Kind"?
(a) It is extremely clean.
(b) It has no furniture in it.
(c) It is filthy.
(d) It is filled with moving boxes.

4. Who are the "really bitter elves" according to the author in "Santaland Diaries"?
(a) Those who have to work with "Santa Santa"
(b) College students
(c) Those who worked in high power jobs before the recession
(d) Want-to-be actors and actresses

5. Who is Cassandra Lane in "After Malison"?
(a) The narrator's friend from New York City
(b) Malison's former girlfriend
(c) Malison's current girlfriend
(d) A woman in the audience at Malison's reading

Short Answer Questions

1. What does the narrator notice about all of the people hired as elves in "Santaland Diaries"?

2. Why does the narrator's father refuse to see his grandson in "Jamboree"?

3. Where does Marty park his motorcycle in "Jamboree"?

4. Why is the narrator of "Jamboree" staying with his sister?

5. Why does the narrator of "Diary of a Smoker" schedule a doctor's appointment?

Short Essay Questions

1. Who is Jamboree in "Jamboree"? How does the narrator feel about him?

2. Why is Jocelyn Dunbar suspected of murdering Don and framing Khe Sahn in "Season's Greetings..."?

3. What story does the narrator of "Giantess" think he and Lili should tell the man whose plate they broke?

4. Describe Santa Santa in "Santaland Diaries".

5. What does the narrator's mother give him before she dies in "Barrel Fever"? Why does she give him this gift?

6. What does the narrator do to Marty's motorcycle in "Jamboree"? Who does Marty believe is responsible for the damages?

7. How does the narrator of "Barrel Fever" feel about the word "nice"? Why does he feel this way?

8. Describe "the Walrus" in "Santaland Diaries".

9. Describe Khe Sahn's arrival at the Dunbar home in "Season's Greetings to Our Friends and Family".

10. What story does Sedaris tell the little boy Riley when he throws a temper tantrum in "Santaland Diaries"?

(see the answer keys)

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