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. Where is Sedaris in the opening of the essay "Unbuttoned"?
(a) Springmoor.
(b) A hospital in Paris.
(c) Sea Section.
(d) His father's old house.

2. 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) McDonald's.
(b) A public park.
(c) The bus station.
(d) Subway.

3. 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.

4. In "Themes and Variations," who helps Sedaris choose a person to give money to at the public library?
(a) A mother and child.
(b) A community college student.
(c) The security guard.
(d) The reference librarian.

5. In "Unbuttoned," what do the Sedaris siblings see out the window at Lou's house?
(a) A doe.
(b) A naked woman.
(c) A lightning strike.
(d) A drone.

Short Answer Questions

1. In "Hurricane Season," how does Sedaris characterize the difference between his own anger and Hugh's?

2. In what state are Sedaris and his sister in "Active Shooter"?

3. In "A Speech to the Graduates," what advice is Sedaris defending with his example of a grandmother who gives a grandchild a graduation gift?

4. In "Bruised," what aspect of his identity makes Sedaris afraid that people will not believe him if Olivier tells lies about his behavior?

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

Short Essay Questions

1. In "Themes and Variations," what does Sedaris discover about women, and how does he discover it?

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

3. In "Active Shooter," what is the rhetorical purpose of the anecdote about Lisa believing a story she read in The Onion?

4. What decision did Lou make about his will that upset Sedaris, and why was it so upsetting?

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

6. Describe the condition of Lou's house when the Sedaris siblings go to start clearing it out In "Unbuttoned."

7. In "Unbuttoned," how does Sedaris contrast his feelings about his own medical procedure with his father's behavior?

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

9. In "Active Shooter," how is Lisa's concern about what she saw at Starbucks used as the basis for a joke later in the essay?

10. In "Active Shooter," what contrast does Sedaris see between the drills he recalls in his own elementary school and the ones being practiced today?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,077 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample