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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 "A Better Place," what feature of the restaurant does Sedaris repeatedly complain about?

2. In "Happy-Go-Lucky," how does Sedaris characterize continuing media coverage of the Covid pandemic?

3. In "A Better Place," what does Sedaris say is the subject of our greatest art?

4. On page 228 of "Pussytoes," what does Gretchen complain she is not allowed to say at work anymore?

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

Short Essay Questions

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

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

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

4. 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?

5. What is the rhetorical function of opening "The Vacuum" with the description of the supermarket near Sedaris's apartment?

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

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

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

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

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

How does the symbol of the grandfather clock unify the essay "Father Time"? How do both ideas it contains--the idea of fatherhood and the idea of time--run through the essay? How does the clock serve to unify both of these ideas into a single message? Write an essay in which you analyze the clock as a symbol. Use textual evidence to defend your idea of its symbolic significance, and then show how this symbolic significance is developed throughout the remainder of the essay. Be sure to focus attention on the relationship between the two main ideas that this clock introduces--do not simply treat them as two separate topics.

Essay Topic 2

How does the title "Themes and Variations" suit both the explicit and implicit content of the essay? Write an essay in which you explore how "Themes and Variations" is both a summary of the essay's content related to Sedaris's interactions with his audience and a nod to the essay's ability to deliver both overt and covert themes. Use evidence from the text itself to support your interpretation of the essay's explicit and implicit content, and give clear reasoning to connect the essay's title to both kinds of content.

Essay Topic 3

What is the meaning behind the anthology's title? Consider the content of the essay of the same name and how it relates to other essays in the collection. Consider how the title sums up a larger idea in this collection--earnestly or ironically. Also think about the reversed title in the essay's final collection. What is the point of reversing this title, and how does this choice add to your understanding of Sedaris's choice of Happy-Go-Lucky for the entire collection? Write an essay that makes and defends a claim about Sedaris's choice of title for this anthology of essays. Support your assertions with evidence drawn from throughout the collection.

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