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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. How does the author's father say his friend lost a foot?

2. What does the author say he wanted a home with, as opposed to a fence?

3. Who comes to the house to speak to the author's mother in the second essay?

4. Who does "Ya Ya" refer to?

5. What does the author's mother run over while taking him home from play practice?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is the second household mystery in "True Detective"? What is the backlash the author finds himself in?

2. What changes David's father's mind about Ya Ya's being taken to a care facility? Where does he take her?

3. What does David's mother insist he stop doing to the cat? Why?

4. How does "Next of Kin" become passed through the family? What finally happens to it?

5. What does Miss Chestnut scold David for in "A Plague of Tics"?

6. Where is Ya Ya from, and how do she and David's mother feel about each other?

7. When does Ya Ya die? How does the family react?

8. What happens after the golf tournament in "Women's Open"?

9. How was David's father brought up? How is his mother's cooking described?

10. What leads Ya Ya to need to be cared for? How does this lead to arguments between the author's parents?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the author's use of structure and motif in the essay "True Detective." Describe ways in which the author "sets up" the humor in this piece.

Essay Topic 2

Discuss the essay "Chipped Beef" in terms of theme, setting, stylistic elements, and fantasy.

Essay Topic 3

Compare and contrast the author's mother and father in the essays. How are these personalities similar? How do they differ?

(see the answer keys)

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