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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. Thaddeus Bristol compares the performance at Scottsfield Elementary School to what?

2. What do the Cottinghams give the beggar the second Thanksgiving he comes along?

3. The narrator has three grills: one for beef, one for chicken and one for ________.

4. Who is Thaddeus Bristol the most annoyed with during the Christmas performances?

5. What does the mother who performed surgery on her own son say saved him in "Based Upon a True Story"?

Short Essay Questions

1. What are some of the mini-series that Jim Timothy has produced?

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

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

4. What does the narrator discover happens to his sons after he gives them to the beggar?

5. How does "Christmas Means Giving" end?

6. How does the giving contest become gruesome in "Christmas Means Giving"?

7. What is Thaddeus Bristol's complaint about the performance at Sacred Heart Elementary?

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

9. Who is Jim Timothy?

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

What is the moral ambiguity demonstrated in "Based Upon A True Story"? How does Jim Timothy represent the gray areas of the modern entertainment media?

Essay Topic 2

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

Essay Topic 3

Discuss the character of Thaddeus Bristol and what he represents in society.

(see the answer keys)

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