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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 assume is true about the "slightly disheveled" front desk clerk (251)?

2. In "Pussytoes," what item from Lou's house does Gretchen give Sedaris?

3. In "Fresh-Caught Haddock," why is wearing a mask at the protest a relief to Sedaris?

4. In "Pearls," what does Amy's acupuncturist tell her is the source of her trauma?

5. In "Happy-Go-Lucky," what does Amy catch Sedaris doing at his father's funeral?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

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

4. In "Lucky-Go-Happy," what does Sedaris start asking all of the teenagers at his readings, and what is his reaction to the responses he gets?

5. In "A Better Place," what is Sedaris's response to the idea that his father "did his best" (193)?

6. 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?

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

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

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

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

"Lucky-Go-Happy" shares a somewhat pessimistic view of America in 2021. Based on the totality of this collection, would you call Sedaris a pessimist in general, or is his pessimism limited to this particular subject? How does he seem to view relationships, his own personal growth, getting older, and the other topics that he covers in Happy-Go-Lucky? What kinds of subject matter has he chosen to focus on in these essays? How does his language convey either a generally pessimistic, optimistic, or neutral outlook? Write an essay that affirms, refutes, or qualifies the following statement: "In Happy-Go-Lucky, David Sedaris displays a generally pessimistic outlook on life." Support your claims with both quoted and paraphrased evidence drawn from throughout the text.

Essay Topic 2

Write an essay that explores the irony of Sedaris's comments about American tourists in Paris in "To Serbia with Love." Consider his beliefs about Paris and why it bothers him that Americans fail to appreciate the city on its own terms. Think about his travels with Patsy and the ways in which he uses these as fodder to entertain Western readers. Finally, reread his brief commentary about Western privilege at the end of the essay and consider how his essay illustrates a kind of blindness that results from Western privilege. Are there non-material forms of "poverty" that can arise from living in conditions of relative material wealth? Support your arguments with both quoted and paraphrased evidence from throughout the essay.

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.

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