Reading Check and Short Answer Questions on key points are designed for guided reading assignments, in-class review, formative assessment, quizzes, and more.

CHAPTERS 1-3 

Reading Check

1. What consonant sound does young Sedaris avoid using when speaking to “Agent Samson” in Chapter 1?

2. What company did Sedaris’s father work for as a computer engineer?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. What object does Mister Mancini ask Sedaris to name, and why is Sedaris’s response unsatisfactory?

2. What does Sedaris’s father explain to the fishermen by drawing in the sand, and how do they respond to his demonstration?

Paired Resource

“Why ‘Coming Out’ Can Take a Lifetime”

• This article from the BBC shows the complicated emotions and experiences young people go through when discussing their sexuality with the people closest to them.
• This connects to the theme of Self-Identity and Sexuality.
• How are young Sedaris’s behaviors at odds with what others consider “typical” for heterosexual adolescent behavior?

Jhumpa Lahiri and the “Power of Language Learning”

• This essay from Ohio State University’s College of Arts and Sciences offers information about author Jhumpa Lahiri and her fearless efforts to learn and write exclusively in Italian after writing Pulitzer Prize-winning works in English.