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

Short Answer Questions

1. In "Happy-Go-Lucky," what reason does Lou give for the priest disliking him?

2. In "A Better Place," what does Sedaris envy about the group at the table across the room?

3. On page 238 of "Pussytoes," how does Sedaris say people refer to "a massively difficult person" once they get old?

4. In "Pearls," what does Sedaris tell the woman in Sussex about Hugh?

5. In "Lady Marmalade," what does Sedaris recall doing to Tiffany when he was about ten and she was about four years old?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

8. When describing protests in "Fresh-Caught Haddock," what two examples of White participants' vandalism does Sedaris give, and how do Black bystanders react?

9. In "Lady Marmalade," what reasons do the Sedaris siblings have for being skeptical of Tiffany's claims that Lou sexually abused her?

10. In "Pussytoes," what disagreement do the siblings have about the photo of Lou to use with his obituary?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The ideas expressed in "Bruises" are motifs that run throughout much of the collection Happy-Go-Lucky. Choose three to five essays from the collection and show how they support the idea that bruising experiences can limit a person's full expression of themselves. This idea does not have to be the main point an essay is making in order for you to include the essay in your discussion, but it should be clearly presented enough that you can draw more than one example or quote from each essay you choose.

Essay Topic 2

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 3

In "The Vacuum," Sedaris is defensive about being called "tone deaf and elitist" during the Covid-19 pandemic (149). Consider Happy-Go-Lucky as a whole. What elements of Sedaris's writing seem to support this charge? What elements argue against it? Does Sedaris seem aware of and compassionate towards the concerns of ordinary people, or does he seem somewhat self-involved and callous? Write an essay in which you take and defend a position about whether Sedaris is or is not indifferent to the suffering of others. Support your assertions with evidence drawn from throughout the anthology.

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