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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. In "Highfalutin," where have Sedaris and Hugh moved just before the lunch with Amy takes place?
(a) New York.
(b) North Carolina.
(c) Normandy.
(d) Sussex.

2. In "Father Time," what does Sedaris say is "unbearable" in children (26)?
(a) Insolence.
(b) Apathy.
(c) Sulking.
(d) Whining.

3. What is ironic about Lisa turning out to be the better shooter?
(a) David Sederis actually has more experience shooting than does his sister Lisa.
(b) The instructor clearly believes that David will be the better shooter because he is male.
(c) Their siblings placed bets on the outcome, and David was heavily favored.
(d) David Sedaris is the one who wanted to go to the gun range, not Lisa.

4. In "Bruised," how old is Olivier?
(a) 14.
(b) 10.
(c) 12.
(d) 16.

5. What name does the gun-safety instructor keep calling Sedaris?
(a) Tom.
(b) Lonnie.
(c) Mike.
(d) Randy.

Short Answer Questions

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

2. What does the Bushmaster ad that Sedaris sees explicitly associate guns with?

3. In "Father Time," what does Sedaris say was the hardest part of Lou's hospitalization for the siblings?

4. In "Unbuttoned," which of Sedaris's siblings says that Lou is their best friend?

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

Short Essay Questions

1. In "To Serbia with Love," how does Sedaris describe the flea markets that he and Patsy visit in Eastern Europe?

2. In "Bruised," what "secret" does Sedaris believe Olivier has discovered, and why does he guess that Olivier is struggling to accept his new knowledge?

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

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

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

6. In "Bruised," how does Sedaris feel his identity is flattened by his lack of French language skills?

7. In "A Speech to the Graduates," how does Sedaris describe his own college experience?

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

9. In "Father Time," how does Sedaris's description of Mayview connect the essay's motif of the inevitable march of time with his concerns about fatherhood?

10. In "Unbuttoned," what irony does Sedaris recognize when Gretchen asks him to write Lou's obituary?

(see the answer keys)

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