View a FREE sample

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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. In "Hurricane Season," where does Sedaris get the idea for the name he wants to call the rental house?
(a) At the grocery store.
(b) At the hardware store.
(c) From a movie.
(d) From one of his own essays.

2. What is the name of the nursing home that Lou moves into?
(a) Springmoor.
(b) Hillcrest.
(c) Mayview.
(d) Oakpointe.

3. What does Lisa think she knows more about than other people?
(a) How to run a classroom.
(b) How to defend herself.
(c) How to drive a car.
(d) How to care for animals.

4. In "Bruised," what does Sedaris criticize as lacking charm?
(a) Modern highways.
(b) The English language.
(c) Big cities.
(d) Hypermarkets.

5. In "Themes and Variations," what location does Sedaris immediately think of when he is looking for a place to give away the first $50?
(a) A public park.
(b) McDonald's.
(c) The bus station.
(d) Subway.

Short Answer Questions

1. In "Themes and Variations," what are the details of the airport McDonald's employee's appearance intended to convey?

2. How does Sedaris feel when Harrison tells him that he has never heard of Sedaris's books?

3. In "To Serbia with Love," what is Patsy's job in Paris?

4. In "Bruised," what does Clotilde occupy herself with on most days?

5. In "Unbuttoned," what does Sedaris take away from the story about Russ Baker's mother?

Short Essay Questions

1. In "Hurricane Season," what contrast does Sedaris explore between his reception of Hugh's criticisms of his family and his family's criticisms of Hugh?

2. In "Themes and Variations," what experience does Sedaris say shaped his desire to interact warmly with his fans?

3. In "Hurricane Season," what type of art does Hugh hang in the rental house, and how does Sedaris characterize a recent tenant's reaction to this art?

4. In "A Speech to the Graduates," what anecdote does Sedaris tell about the woman at the book-signing event, and what is this anecdote's rhetorical function?

5. In "Father Time," what does Sedaris tell Harrison and Austen about whom they should try to be more like, and why?

6. In "A Speech to the Graduates," what does Sedaris say frustrates him about talking to parents whose children want to be writers?

7. In "Hurricane Season," how does Sedaris depict Hugh's attention to detail as a benefit of their relationship?

8. In "Active Shooter," how does Lisa explain to the instructor and to Sedaris her desire to take a gun-safety course?

9. In "Highfalutin," how does Sedaris say his adult experience in front of cameras reflects his role in the childhood game he played with Amy?

10. In "Highfalutin," what two things does Amy do while she and Sedaris are shopping that he finds funny but also mortifying?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,079 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample