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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 is the subject of the Delacroix painting that hangs over Lou's bed?

2. In "The Vacuum," what does Sedaris's agent say will put sex workers out of business?

3. In "Fresh-Caught Haddock," what does Bermey say caused him to lose sympathy for the Black Lives Matter movement?

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

5. In "Fresh-Caught Haddock," what does the young woman in Union Square try to give Sedaris?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

9. 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?

10. In "Fresh-Caught Haddock," what examples of his own unconscious racism does Sedaris give?

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

Choose one essay from Happy-Go-Lucky and write an analysis of the truth value of its claims. Explain which details are likely to be factually accurate and why, and why other details are less likely to be factually accurate. Offer an analysis of whether this balance impacts the essay's meaning and value to a reader. You may decide that the essay is more accurate than not, or that it is riddled with fictionalized details--and in either case you may argue that the balance between factually accurate truth and fictionalized truth creates a negative or positive impact on the essay's value. Develop your analysis with clear reasoning and supportive detail from the essay itself.

Essay Topic 3

After reading "Highfaluntin," you considered how Sedaris attempts to dispute his sister Tiffany's charge that he and Amy are pretentious. Certainly, Sedaris lives a life of privilege. But is this the same as being pretentious? Consider the collection as a whole as you develop a claim about how Sedaris's narrative voice and the details he chooses to include in his essays argue for or against him being characterized as pretentious or snobbish. As you examine this idea, consider whether privilege automatically makes a person a snob, or whether some additional element is necessary to justify this characterization. Support your arguments with both quoted and paraphrased evidence from throughout the text.

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