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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. According to Bryson, what did people in the past do when they flew?
2. According to Bryson, what problem does he have with relating to New Englanders?
3. According to Bryson, which of his sons might one day become a libel lawyer?
4. Which American tourist attraction does Bryson describe as a "Total Indoor Environment"?
5. In "The Best American Holiday," what does Bryson say about his mother?
Short Essay Questions
1. "Highway Diversions" is Bryson's look at highway travel, which he says is very dull. How does he compare modern highway travel to the highway travel of his youth?
2. In "The Flying Nightmare," Bryson compares modern air travel with air travel from his youth in the 1960s and 70s. List three points he makes.
3. In "Deck the Halls," Bryson tells his readers that he is not looking forward to Christmas decorating. Why is this?
4. In "Lost in Cyberland," what kind of adventures does Bryson have with technology in America?
5. In "Enough Already," Bryson says there is just too much of everything in America (except time, money, good plumbers, and polite people). What examples does he give to back this up? Why does he think it is not a good thing?
6. In "Shopping Madness," Bryson says there is a discipline called "retail anthropology." What is it ? What are some of the things it studies?
7. Find three examples from "The Great Indoors" that Bryson cites as reasons he thinks Americans spend too much time indoors.
8. In "A Day at the Seaside," what does Mrs. Bryson suggest the family do? How does Bill react to this?
9. Bryson relates his sad tale of trying to rent a car when he went to the Boston airport in "How to Rent a Car." What are some of the problems he encountered?
10. In "So Sue Me," what does Bryson say about American lawyers?
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
At the beginning of the memoir, in the Introduction and Anecdote 1 "Coming Home," Bill Bryson explains how he came to write the anecdotes that comprise "I'm a Stranger Here Myself" and the process by which he relocated his family in the United States. Define the component of the literary element of plot known as "exposition." What purpose does it serve in writing? Give four examples of Bryson's use of exposition in the Introduction and in Anecdote 1 that enhance the memoir.
Essay Topic 3
Define memoir as a literary genre. What elements of the memoir are found in "I'm a Stranger Here Myself"? Briefly outline the main points of Bill Bryson's experiences as they are described in the book. Discuss why you believe they are appropriate or not as inclusions in a memoir about a man returning to his country of birth after twenty years away.
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This section contains 1,411 words (approx. 5 pages at 300 words per page) |
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