Go Carolina Summary and Analysis

David Sedaris begins this series of autobiographical essays with a story from his early childhood. While he is sitting in his fifth grade geography class, an unfamiliar teacher unexpectedly calls him out of the room. His mind flashes images of television shows where secret agents come knocking on doors in pursuit of a criminal. He then quickly runs through a list of crimes for which he might be punished. It is immediately evident that even as a child, Sedaris uses pop culture as a source of reference for many real life circumstances.

En route to her office, the teacher asks Sedaris if he is a State or Carolina fan. According to Sedaris, this is a typical question among North Carolina natives and is a sneaky tactic for weeding out people they might disagree with. Not being a sports fan...