Print
Word
PDF
|
| Name: _________________________ | Period: ___________________ |
This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.
Short Answer Questions
1. What does the narrator find in a copy of Mein Kampf in "Barrel Fever"?
2. What is the Magic Star in "Santaland Diaries"?
3. What is Snowball, the elf known for in "Santaland Diaries"?
4. What does the narrator notice about all of the people hired as elves in "Santaland Diaries"?
5. What does Khe Sahn wear to Thanksgiving dinner in "Season's Greetings..."?
Short Essay Questions
1. What do IV and PCD stand for in "Barrel Fever"? What is the significance of these acronyms for the narrator?
2. How does the narrator of "Diary of A Smoker" feel about smoking?
3. Describe the scene in Macy's on Christmas Eve in "Santaland Diaries".
4. How does Jocelyn feel about her daughter's marriage to Timothy Speaks in "Season's Greetings..."? How does this compare to her feelings about her grandson, Don?
5. What does the narrator's mother give him before she dies in "Barrel Fever"? Why does she give him this gift?
6. What theme joins the four scenarios in "The Curly Kind"?
7. What story does the narrator of "Giantess" think he and Lili should tell the man whose plate they broke?
8. How does the narrator of "Barrel Fever" feel about the word "nice"? Why does he feel this way?
9. Describe Dolph's confrontation with Alicia Cunningham in "Barrel Fever".
10. Who is Trudy Chase in "Barrel Fever"? How does the narrator react to a phone call from Trudy?
Essay Topics
Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:
Essay Topic 1
Imagine if one of the stories in this collection was missing from it. Choose one of the stories and "remove" it from the collection. Write an essay:
1) explaining the role that the story plays in the collection,
2) describing how the novel would be different without the story, and
3) comment on the quality of the book without the story: Would it be better or worse? Why?
Be sure to use specific examples from the stories to support your ideas.
Essay Topic 2
The titles of many of the stories in "Barrel Fever" have an ironic twist to them. Select three of the following stories and discuss how the title of each story reflects an irony presented in the story.
1) "Parade"
2) "Music for Lovers"
3) "We Get Along"
4) "Firestone"
5) "After Malison"
6) "Barrel Fever"
Be sure to use evidence from the stories to support your ideas.
Essay Topic 3
While David Sedaris' stories are often described as sharp and cutting, they also offer a level of empathy and kindness towards their characters. Select 2 of the stories where Sedaris shows empathy and discuss how he shows kindness towards his characters. Compare and contrast the ways kindness is shown in each of these stories. Be sure to use evidence from the stories to support your ideas.
|
This section contains 1,121 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) |
|
