View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. Jim Timothy touts his skills as a __________.

2. What do the Cottinghams die from in "Christmas Means Giving"?

3. What is Jim Timothy's show "Sun Roof Optional" about?

4. Thaddeus Bristol compares the performance at Scottsfield Elementary School to what?

5. What does Thaddeus Bristol refer to the performers as at Jane Snow-Hernandez Elementary School?

Short Essay Questions

1. What are some of the mini-series that Jim Timothy has produced?

2. How does Jim Timothy's studio gain the rights to real life stories?

3. Who is Jim Timothy?

4. What is the premise of "A Reindeer's Gift"?

5. What is Thaddeus Bristol's complaint about the performance at Sacred Heart Elementary?

6. Whose performance receives the only compliment from Thaddeus Bristol?

7. What does Jim Timothy offer the members of the congregation if they help him?

8. What happens when the Cottingham family move into next door to the narrator in "Christmas Means Giving"?

9. What is the premise of 'Front Row Center with Thaddeus Bristol "?

10. How does "Christmas Means Giving" end?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What do these stories reveal about the importance of social status in American middle-class culture?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss the irony of the situation for the following characters: Jocelyn Dunbar, young David Sedaris and Jim Timothy.

Essay Topic 3

Discuss the theme of appearance versus reality as it is illustrated in various stories in the collection.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 757 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample