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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Amy Sedaris is fond of
(a) Gaining and losing weight haphazardly.
(b) Dressing up and impersonating others.
(c) Impersonating her father.
(d) Having her picture taken for the newspaper.

2. Lou Sedaris busies himself
(a) Tanning.
(b) Chatting with fishermen.
(c) Working equations in the sand.
(d) Smoking.

3. Sedaris questions
(a) His own inability to leave the toilet unflushed, thereby assuming the guilt.
(b) His own need for cleanliness.
(c) His own inability to go to the bathroom comfortably in public
(d) Others inability to feel shame.

4. Sedaris feels out of place in the restaurant because
(a) He cannot understand the menu.
(b) He is on his first date with Hugh.
(c) He has to borrow a jacket from the maitre d'.
(d) He does not like any of the food.

5. The irony of the fisherman's position is that
(a) They are not even trying to be tan.
(b) They can no longer afford to live by the beach.
(c) They can no longer fish in the ocean.
(d) They can understand Lou Sedaris' scientific equations.

6. Sedaris recalls that his mother explained
(a) That one should never leave a toilet unflushed.
(b) That one should never make a bowel movement at another's home.
(c) That everyone had bowel movements, so he should not be ashamed about them.
(d) That everyone had bowel movements, but that we should not admit to them.

7. What adds to Sedaris' tension while he is in the bathroom?
(a) His friend keeps asking him what he is doing in there.
(b) His friend keeps knocking on the door to hurry him up.
(c) He needs to use the toilet himself.
(d) He can hear the others beginning to talk about him outside.

8. Miss Sampson asks the previous question in order to
(a) Provoke an argument about football.
(b) Trick Sedaris into revealing his disdain for sports.
(c) Get Sedaris talking so she might hear his lisp.
(d) Determine whether or not she will like Sedaris.

9. Who or what threatens to divide Sedaris' class?
(a) An older returning student who claimed he was wasting her time.
(b) The teenage freshmen students.
(c) An asthmatic who protected the smoking rule in class.
(d) Sedaris' Pillow Talk segment, where students discussed their personal lives.

10. During their last meeting together, Sedaris learns that Miss Sampson
(a) Has quit her job because she feels like a failure.
(b) Has been fired because she could not help the students.
(c) Is leaving to work at another school.
(d) Is aware of his homosexuality.

11. Sedaris' mother might be described as
(a) A theorist.
(b) Visionary.
(c) Pragmatic.
(d) An inventor.

12. Why is Sedaris offered a job teaching a writing workshop?
(a) The scheduled professor quit at the last moment.
(b) He has teaching experience.
(c) He is friends with the department chair.
(d) He has been published several times.

13. Sedaris is not bothered by the possible ingredients in a hot dog because
(a) He does not believe the rumors about them.
(b) He is used to exotic foods.
(c) He only eats vegetarian hot dogs.
(d) He recognizes the hot dog as food.

14. What is Lou Sedaris excited about at the start of the essay?
(a) His daughter, Amy, is going to appear in a magazine article.
(b) David is going to appear in a magazine article.
(c) His daughter, Amy, is getting married.
(d) His daughter ,Amy, has lost a considerable amount of weight.

15. Instead of the performance piece in the twelfth "moment," Sedaris seems to admire
(a) The number of people attending the performance.
(b) The courage of the performer.
(c) The beauty of the ordinary world around him.
(d) The metaphors apparent in the performance.

Short Answer Questions

1. Sedaris' first artistic success takes the form of

2. The Japanese cartoon Fatty and Skinny makes Sedaris sad because

3. Rather than sports, Sedaris states that he and his fellow speech therapy students were more interested in

4. When visiting home, Amy tortures her father by

5. During his experience as a mover, Sedaris begins to change because

(see the answer keys)

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