View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. In "Highfalutin," what does Sedaris say is the "saddest development in New York" in the last few decades (82)?

2. In "Hurricane Season," what motivates Hugh to lock Gretchen and Sedaris out of the house?

3. What is ironic about Lisa turning out to be the better shooter?

4. In "A Speech to the Graduates," what item does Sedaris tells students to not bother buying unless they can afford one of two specific brands?

5. In "A Speech to the Graduates," what does Sedaris say might prevent today's young people from enjoying a period of independence and exploration?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

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

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

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

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

7. 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?

8. 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?

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 "Father Time," how does Sedaris contrast his attentiveness to his father with that of his siblings?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

In "Lady Marmalade," Sedaris airs evidence for and against his sister Tiffany's claims of sexual abuse. Do you think that an essay intended for public viewing is an appropriate venue for these musings, when neither Lou nor Tiffany is alive to have their voices heard? If Sedaris wanted to focus on his own struggle to come to terms with his sister's accusations, what other detail and language choices might he have made? Would this have been a more appropriate choice, or is the entire topic not really Sedaris's story to share? Write an essay that considers what Sedaris's detail and language choices are meant to convey, what might have been conveyed through different choices, and whether the choices he has made are ethically appropriate.

Essay Topic 2

Early in studying this anthology, you considered how Sedaris's writing might affect his boyfriend, Hugh Hamrick, and how it might impact the reputation of his father and his siblings' feelings about their father. Now that you have read Sedaris's essay about his sister Tiffany's suicide, think back to the standards you personally believe a writer should follow in prioritizing their art versus the privacy and feelings of others. Do some online research into the controversy surrounding Sedaris's treatment of Tiffany's suicide, and develop an opinion about whether his discussions of her in Happy-Go-Lucky meet or violate your standards. Write an essay that analyzes the ethics of the essay "Lady Marmalade" and of other mentions of Tiffany throughout Happy-Go-Lucky. Draw your evidence from both Sedaris's writing and from online sources discussing others' reception of his remarks about his sister. Cite all sources in MLA format.

Essay Topic 3

You have already analyzed how comic detail functions in "Pearls." Now, apply a similar analysis to another one of the essays in Happy-Go-Lucky. Consider how the essay functions without these details. Think about whether the comic details in your chosen essay have similar or dissimilar tones and how their tone(s) might impact readers. Write an essay that explicates how humor functions in this essay: is it intended to entertain, persuade, inform, or to fulfill some combination of these purposes? How does it accomplish Sedaris's purposes, exactly? Support your assertions with both quoted and paraphrased evidence from throughout the essay.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,391 words (approx. 5 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample