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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. What absent person does Augusten say hello to at the very end of the novel?

2. What does Augusten do after talking to Pighead's brother on the phone in Chapter 13?

3. In Chapter 7, what does Augusten realize about his attraction to Foster?

4. At the beginning of Chapter 10, Greer and Augusten talk about how they hate what?

5. At the beginning of Chapter 11, what disturbs Augusten most about Pighead's appearance?

Short Essay Questions

1. What do Wendy and Augusten discuss in Chapter 11?

2. What is Augusten's attitude toward his mother?

3. What surprise does Pighead have for Augusten in Chapter 14?

4. To whom does Augusten confide about Foster in Chapter 9?

5. Why is dinner with the Nazi in Chapter 10 nearly unbearable for Augusten?

6. Describe the commercial shoot in Chapter 10.

7. What positive events happen to Augusten in Chapter 9?

8. What does Augusten realize about Foster in Chapter 7?

9. What news does Hayden give Augusten in Chapter 12?

10. Why does the beer account prove more difficult than Augusten expected?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Write an essay on the topic of alienation from self in Dry. How has alcoholism rendered Augusten Burroughs unable to process his own emotional sphere? What steps does he take toward translating his feelings into self-awareness after rehab? Discuss how events involving work, Pighead, and Foster confound him, in part, because of his lack of self-awareness.

Essay Topic 2

The first part of Dry takes place largely in the Proud Institute. Write an essay about the way Burroughs introduces and portrays the Proud Institute in the novel. What expectations does Augusten have of rehab before he gets there, and how does the Institute compare? How does the author portray the other patients? What is Augusten's initial and eventual attitude to everything?

Essay Topic 3

Pighead begins Dry as an estranged friend of the protagonist and ends it as a guardian angel. Write an essay about Pighead's trajectory in the novel. How did he and Augusten first meet, and why are they estranged when Augusten goes into rehab? Discuss how their relationship develops as Pighead's health declines. Why is Pighead largely responsible both for AUgusten's relapse and decision to return to rehab?

(see the answer keys)

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