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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. What most bothers Sedaris about the phrases he discusses in "A Better Place" ?
(a) They are hypocritical.
(b) They are self-serving.
(c) They are empty of meaning.
(d) They are obvious lies.

2. In "Pussytoes," what does Lou tell the president of Princeton University?
(a) There is no way Sedaris could have gotten into Princeton.
(b) Amy is a better speaker than Sedaris.
(c) He finds it hard to believe the graduates will know who Sedaris is.
(d) Gretchen is a better artist than Sedaris.

3. In "Smile, Beautiful," whose life history inspires Sedaris's offer to the fan he meets at his Reno book signing?
(a) Amy's.
(b) Hugh's.
(c) Lisa's.
(d) Gretchen's.

4. In "Pearls," what is "Luigi's"?
(a) Hugh and Sedaris's upstairs apartment.
(b) Hugh and Sedaris's favorite restaurant.
(c) The depressing neighborhood supermarket.
(d) An imaginary dry cleaner's shop.

5. In "Lucky-Go-Happy," why does the desk clerk at one hotel refuse to believe that the shirt Sedaris left behind belongs to him?
(a) The shirt has someone else's name sewn into it.
(b) Sedaris cannot clearly describe it.
(c) It is in a size much larger than Sedaris would wear.
(d) Its style strikes the clerk as feminine.

Short Answer Questions

1. In "A Better Place," what feature of the restaurant does Sedaris repeatedly complain about?

2. In "Fresh-Caught Haddock," what does Sedaris metaphorically compare the BLM protests to?

3. In "Lucky-Go-Happy," what nickname does Sedaris say he has given Hugh?

4. In "Smile, Beautiful," what finally inspires Sedaris to get his teeth fixed?

5. In "Lucky-Go-Happy," how does one of Sedaris's fans tell him her pet hamster died?

Short Essay Questions

1. In "Happy-Go-Lucky," why does Sedaris think that his father is losing his hearing?

2. In "Fresh-Caught Haddock," what does a Jewish acquaintance point out to Sedaris about his proposed solutions for Confederate monuments?

3. In "A Better Place," what are Sedaris's practical objections to the idea that deceased loved ones look down on us from heaven?

4. In "Smile, Beautiful," how do Hugh and Amy react after Sedaris reveals his newly corrected teeth?

5. In "The Vacuum," what activities does Sedaris describe filling his days with while he is waiting until he can go out and walk at night?

6. In "Pearls," what does Sedaris theorize are the two main causes of relationship failures?

7. In "Lady Marmalade," what anecdote does Sedaris share about his father's photography and his sister Lisa?

8. What literal and figurative meanings does Sedaris convey with the title "Pearls"?

9. What sentiment does Sedaris close the essay "The Vacuum" with, and what example does he give?

10. In "A Better Place," what is the rhetorical purpose of describing Lou's grave site in such detail?

(see the answer keys)

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