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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. How long after the miraculous surgery in "Based Upon a True Story" does the boy die?

2. According to Thaddeus Bristol, what has no place in the theater?

3. What is the name of the town where Jim Timothy is speaking to a church congregation?

4. What was Jim Timothy's show about rednecks called?

5. Where do they find the narrator's dead sons?

Short Essay Questions

1. What happens one Thanksgiving when a beggar knocks on the narrator's door in "Christmas Means Giving"?

2. What is the premise of 'Front Row Center with Thaddeus Bristol "?

3. What do the Cottingham's and then narrator give to the beggar starting on the next Thanksgiving?

4. How does "Christmas Means Giving" end?

5. What is the premise of "A Reindeer's Gift"?

6. Why can't Jim Timothy contact the women in the church who performed the miraculous surgery?

7. What does Thaddeus Bristol see as the irony in the Christmas pageants he critiques?

8. Who is Jim Timothy addressing in "Based Upon A True Story"?

9. How does Jim Timothy's studio gain the rights to real life stories?

10. What does Thaddeus Bristol conclude about parental encouragement?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the irony of the situation for the following characters: Jocelyn Dunbar, young David Sedaris and Jim Timothy.

Essay Topic 2

What is the lasting impression that "Holidays on Ice" makes on the reader? What do you think the author's intent was in writing this story collection?

Essay Topic 3

What qualities does Jocelyn Dunbar embody both as a character and as a narrator of the story? What makes her a reliable or unreliable narrator?

(see the answer keys)

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