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This quiz consists of 5 multiple choice and 5 short answer questions through Section 4: "The Vacuum" through "Fresh-Caught Haddock".

Multiple Choice Questions

1. In "Pearls," what does Amy's acupuncturist tell her is the source of her trauma?
(a) Finding out that Gretchen named her cat "Amy."
(b) Seeing a mouse and a bug on the same day.
(c) Her favorite snack cakes being discontinued.
(d) Her iridologist's remarks about her eye color.

2. What family event are the Sedarises anticipating when Lou first falls and has to be hospitalized?
(a) Lisa and Bob's fortieth wedding anniversary.
(b) Lou's 95th birthday.
(c) Gretchen's retirement party.
(d) A family vacation to the seaside.

3. In "Themes and Variations," what are the details of the airport McDonald's employee's appearance intended to convey?
(a) Sedaris pities her because he thinks she is unattractive.
(b) Sedaris understands how fortunate he is to be healthy.
(c) Sedaris feels guilty for misjudging the woman.
(d) Sedaris admires how much she does with few resources.

4. In "To Serbia with Love," what is one of the main things that Sedaris explicitly says Westerners have that people from Eastern Europe lack?
(a) Security.
(b) Wealth.
(c) Freedom.
(d) Hope.

5. In "Pearls," what does Sedaris call the "first step to divorce" (156)?
(a) A lack of shared interests.
(b) Counseling.
(c) Separate bedrooms.
(d) Silence.

Short Answer Questions

1. In "The Vacuum," what does Sedaris say is the only thing he was able to successfully hoard?

2. In "The Vacuum," what does Sedaris say he has learned through experience never to do on the streets of New York?

3. In "Highfalutin," what does Sedaris say is the "saddest development in New York" in the last few decades (82)?

4. In "A Speech to the Graduates," what is Sedaris's purpose in mentioning the speaker at his own graduation?

5. Where is Sedaris in the opening of the essay "Unbuttoned"?

(see the answer key)

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