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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. Where do Bill and his wife go to celebrate their anniversary?

2. According to Bryson, why are national parks and wilderness areas in the United States overcrowded?

3. What does Bill say is a new shopping experience for him on his return to America?

4. Why does Bill feel going to a restaurant is a discouraging experience?

5. What did the town of Laconia, New Hampshire, have to do about its new sidewalks and benches in its town center?

Short Essay Questions

1. In "Design Flaws" Bryson compares running shoes and his computer keyboard. What does he say about each one?

2. Bryson finds the lack of privacy in America to be a problem. List three examples of this problem that he cites in "Snoopers at Work."

3. Bryson relates how his attitude to the informality and familiarity in American life seemed an irritant when he returned to the United States. For Essay 19, "Number Please," relate some of the ways he has encountered this informality in America.

4. In "The Inefficiency Report," Bryson says "Our subject today is large-scale incompetence in my native land." Give some examples of what he believes are areas of incompetence in 1990s America.

5. What does Bryson say about regional accents in America in the 1990s in "Dying Accents"?

6. Bryson has a nostalgic look at motels in "Room Service." How does he compare and contrast older motels with those of the mid 1990's?

7. Bryson calls America "the ultimate shopping paradise" in "Consuming Pleasures." How does he support this statement?

8. In "The Risk Factor," how does Bryson explain that the average American is twice as likely to die accidentally as the average Briton?

9. In "Coming Home" Bryson says he is "gamely assessing" the concept of not being able to go home again. What circumstances took him away from the United States in the 1970s? How did he spend the following two decades in England? What is his reaction on returning to the United States in 1996?

10. What comparison does Bryson make between American baseball and English cricket in "Take Me Out to the Ballpark"?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What is satire? What is the point of satire and how should it be used? Give three examples of satirical writing that Bryson includes in his book.

Essay Topic 2

What is "creative license?" When is it commonly used? When should it not be used? In what instances is it permissible to use in creative nonfiction? Give examples. Cite three examples from "I'm a Stranger Here Myself" where you believe creative license was used.

Essay Topic 3

The setting refers to the time and the place where a story takes place. Compare and contrast the settings of "I'm a Stranger Here Myself." How does the United States to which he returns compare to the country he left behind in the 1970's? Cite at least three examples from the book where Bryson discusses how the setting, in reference to time, has changed.

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