In his 1992 book Talents and Technicians: Literary Chic and the New Assembly-Line Fiction, John E. Aldridge criticizes writers such as Lorrie Moore for tending "to treat the personal life [of their characters] as if it were a phenomenon existing totally apart from society and without connotations that would give it meaningful relevance to a general human condition or dilemma." Do you think this criticism applies to "You're Ugly, Too" ? Are there social forces behind the problems Hendricks is facing, or do you agree with Aldridge that Moore treats Hendricks's life as something apart from her social context?

In her snide remarks to her undergraduate students inParis, Illinois, Hendricks believes she is being ironic, but her students accuse her of being sarcastic—an accusation Hendricks eventually accepts. Research the definitions of "sarcasm" and "irony." What is the difference between the two terms, and...