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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 "Happy-Go-Lucky," what does Amy catch Sedaris doing at his father's funeral?
(a) Making notes.
(b) Hiding a laugh.
(c) Looking at his phone.
(d) Crying.

2. In "Fresh-Caught Haddock," what does Sedaris metaphorically compare the BLM protests to?
(a) The tentacles of a squid.
(b) A high-school pep rally.
(c) Public transportation.
(d) Hurricane Florence.

3. In "Smile, Beautiful," what nation does Sedaris specifically mention as having more relaxed dental standards than the United States?
(a) France.
(b) England.
(c) Japan.
(d) Australia.

4. 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) Sedaris cannot clearly describe it.
(b) The shirt has someone else's name sewn into it.
(c) It is in a size much larger than Sedaris would wear.
(d) Its style strikes the clerk as feminine.

5. In "The Vacuum," what does Sedaris say is the only thing he was able to successfully hoard?
(a) One-ply toilet paper.
(b) Ground water buffalo.
(c) Designer hand sanitizers.
(d) Licorice Allsorts.

Short Answer Questions

1. In "Happy-Go-Lucky," what role does Sedaris say Hugh ends up playing when they visit Springmoor?

2. In "A Better Place," what is Sedaris's response to the idea that his father will always be with him?

3. In "Lady Marmalade," what did Lou suggest Sedaris's childhood stomach pains were caused by?

4. In "Lady Marmalade," what did Lou want to show the family when he unbuttoned Lisa's shirt at dinner?

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

Short Essay Questions

1. In "Lucky-Go-Happy," what rhetorical purpose unites Sedaris's choice to talk about varying face mask usage, fireworks stores, and gun sightings?

2. In "Happy-Go-Lucky," what is the rhetorical function of Sedaris's comment that his father used to watch at lot of Fox News?

3. 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?

4. In "Happy-Go-Lucky," what do the changes in Lou suggest to Sedaris might be true in his own life?

5. In "Smile, Beautiful," what two reasons does Sedaris mention for his surprise when the man on the street tells the woman to smile?

6. In "Lady Marmalade," what conclusion does Sedaris draw about Lou's motivations for his behavior toward his children's bodies?

7. In "Lucky-Go-Happy," what does Sedaris say about using Hugh as a test audience for his writing?

8. In "Pearls," how does the purchase of the second apartment illustrate one of Sedaris's main ideas about successful relationships?

9. In "The Vacuum," what kind of language does Sedaris complain about people using to describe the pandemic, and what are some examples of this language?

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

(see the answer keys)

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