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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 was the narrator/author born?

2. What does the author's father collect in a goldfish bowl for good luck?

3. Where does the author's father store his money in the dresser?

4. What is the author's father's name?

5. Who becomes Ya Ya's roommate at the private facility?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why do David's teachers come to his home? What is their impression of his mother?

2. What does David encounter when he returns to Dix Hill?

3. What is the first mystery in "True Detective"? How is it solved?

4. What is David's father's obsession? Where does he take them in "Women's Open"?

5. Why does the author's mother leave behind a video for Lisa? What is on it?

6. How does David's father obtain golf tees? Why does he collect them?

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

8. Describe what the title, "Next of Kin" refers to.

9. What does "Dix Hill" refer to? Why is this fascinating to the author?

10. Describe the family's participation at church as detailed in "Chipped Beef."

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the author's use of "punch lines" in the text. What are examples of these in the essays? What is a "punch line" defined as?

Essay Topic 2

What are the events which take place in "Get Your Ya-ya's Out"? What themes does this piece reflect? How does the author describe the settings in this essay?

Essay Topic 3

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

(see the answer keys)

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