View a FREE sample

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

Short Answer Questions

1. How much cash is Jim Timothy offering each member of the church congregation?

2. What does Jim Timothy call the marriage of mini-series and holiday special?

3. Thaddeus Bristol thinks Bob Cratchit got his Cockney accent from where?

4. The Cottinghams donate Eileen to _________.

5. Thaddeus Bristol says Christmas signifies these three things EXCEPT one:

Short Essay Questions

1. What are Thaddeus Bristol's complaints about the performance of "A Christmas Carol"?

2. What did Thaddeus Bristol have to say about the performances of Mary and Joseph in the Sacred Heart Elementary school play?

3. What is the great choice that Jim Timothy suggests the people of Jasper's Breath have in front of them?

4. What is particularly disturbing about Beth's medical contributions?

5. Why can't Jim Timothy contact the women in the church who performed the miraculous surgery?

6. What do the Cottingham's and then narrator give to the beggar starting on the next Thanksgiving?

7. What happens one Thanksgiving when a beggar knocks on the narrator's door in "Christmas Means Giving"?

8. Whose performance receives the only compliment from Thaddeus Bristol?

9. What has been the trajectory of Jim Timothy's career?

10. What do the Cottingham's usually send out as a Christmas card?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss how Sedaris covers the difficult topics of racism and class snobbery in his stories.

Essay Topic 2

What is the irony of SantaLand? What does "SantaLand Diaries" illustrate about the modern American Christmas season?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss the impact of the setting has in each story for creating the mood and context of the narrative.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 866 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample