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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 "Lucky-Go-Happy," what does Sedaris find disappointing about his Zoom event?

2. In "Lucky-Go-Happy," what does Sedaris assume is true about the "slightly disheveled" front desk clerk (251)?

3. In "Happy-Go-Lucky," what event does Sedaris say released him from his obsessive consumption of the news?

4. In "Smile, Beautiful," what does Sedaris offer to pay for on behalf of the young man in the thrift shop?

5. In "The Vacuum," what does Sedaris buy at the gourmet store Eataly that he later feels he has to defend to Hugh?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

9. In "Smile, Beautiful," what does Sedaris share about the conditions under which he can be generous?

10. In "Pussytoes," what perspective shift does Sedaris use as he describes sitting at Lou's bedside, and what impact does this have on the reader?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

How does the structure of "Active Shooter" contribute to the essay's tone and meaning? Write an essay in which you consider how Sedaris manipulates the flow of time to create emphasis, to develop his argument, and to create juxtapositions with differing tones. Develop your analysis with clear reasoning and supportive detail from the essay itself.

Essay Topic 2

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.

Essay Topic 3

In "A Speech to the Graduates," Sedaris explicitly offers advice to younger people. But this is not the only place in Happy-Go-Lucky where he offers advice in one form or another. Choose one of the pieces of advice from "A Speech to the Graduates" and show how this advice is echoed in other essays in the collection. You might show how Sedaris enacts this advice in his own life, how he offers this advice to readers through editorializing, and/or how he explicitly offers this advice to other people he interacts with. As you choose which piece of advice to trace through the collection, be mindful not to interpret the advice too narrowly. For instance, in "A Speech to the Graduates," Sedaris offers advice about scented candles--but of course, what he is saying at a deeper level is to consider yourself worthy of an investment in quality items and experiences.

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