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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 is Sedaris in the opening of the essay "Unbuttoned"?

2. In "Unbuttoned," what does Sedaris notice on the floor of his father's house?

3. In "To Serbia with Love," what is Patsy's job in Paris?

4. In "Themes and Variations," what location does Sedaris immediately think of when he is looking for a place to give away the first $50?

5. In "Unbuttoned," what two items does Sedaris take from his father's house?

Short Essay Questions

1. In "Unbuttoned," how does Sedaris contrast his feelings about his own medical procedure with his father's behavior?

2. In "Highfalutin," what two things does Amy do while she and Sedaris are shopping that he finds funny but also mortifying?

3. In "Hurricane Season," what contrast does Sedaris explore between his reception of Hugh's criticisms of his family and his family's criticisms of Hugh?

4. In "Bruised," what "secret" does Sedaris believe Olivier has discovered, and why does he guess that Olivier is struggling to accept his new knowledge?

5. In "To Serbia with Love," what criticism does Sedaris level against the American tourists Patsy deals with in Paris?

6. In "A Speech to the Graduates," what does Sedaris say frustrates him about talking to parents whose children want to be writers?

7. In "Father Time," what does Sedaris tell Harrison and Austen about whom they should try to be more like, and why?

8. In "Father Time," how does Sedaris's description of Mayview connect the essay's motif of the inevitable march of time with his concerns about fatherhood?

9. In "Bruised," what anecdote does Sedaris tell about a neighbor woman he knew when he was a child?

10. In "Hurricane Season," how does the example of the neighbor's "shocking" outdoor shower undermine the point Sedaris has just made about renters?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

How does the structure of "Active Shooter" contribute to the essay's tone and meaning? Write an essay in which you consider how Sedaris manipulates the flow of time to create emphasis, to develop his argument, and to create juxtapositions with differing tones. Develop your analysis with clear reasoning and supportive detail from the essay itself.

Essay Topic 2

How does the title "Themes and Variations" suit both the explicit and implicit content of the essay? Write an essay in which you explore how "Themes and Variations" is both a summary of the essay's content related to Sedaris's interactions with his audience and a nod to the essay's ability to deliver both overt and covert themes. Use evidence from the text itself to support your interpretation of the essay's explicit and implicit content, and give clear reasoning to connect the essay's title to both kinds of content.

Essay Topic 3

In "A Speech to the Graduates," Sedaris explicitly offers advice to younger people. But this is not the only place in Happy-Go-Lucky where he offers advice in one form or another. Choose one of the pieces of advice from "A Speech to the Graduates" and show how this advice is echoed in other essays in the collection. You might show how Sedaris enacts this advice in his own life, how he offers this advice to readers through editorializing, and/or how he explicitly offers this advice to other people he interacts with. As you choose which piece of advice to trace through the collection, be mindful not to interpret the advice too narrowly. For instance, in "A Speech to the Graduates," Sedaris offers advice about scented candles--but of course, what he is saying at a deeper level is to consider yourself worthy of an investment in quality items and experiences.

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