Me Talk Pretty One Day, Part One
Writing Prompts
The first portion of David Sedaris’s Me Talk Pretty One Day does not deal with the issue of Americans in
Paris but is still useful in this unit. In order to balance students’ workload, try reading a chapter a day
aloud to students. Reading aloud helps students develop fluency and hearing the language can be
especially helpful. Try using these prompts to get students writing. Writing is a great way to validate
students’ voices and languages while it is also proven to help with reading skills. The prompts are a mix
of opinion questions, invitations for personal sharing, and literary analysis.
Go Carolina
Sedaris is singled out because of his speech impediment. It makes him feel alone and different.
Have you ever been singled out for something and felt isolated?
Giant Dreams, Midget Abilities
How does the title of the chapter reflect what happened? Can it have more than one meaning?
Genetic Engineering
Sedaris leaves us with an interesting final image: “this group of men with nets, blowing their
smoke into the wind. Stooped and toothless, they hung upon his every word,” (38). Why is this
image so powerful? What does it say about stereotypes?
Twelve Moments in the Life of an Artist
Sedaris mixes up the style of his writing, dividing it into twelve “moments”. These moments
make up important events the story of Sedaris’s “artist” life. Take as many moments as you
need to tell your own story, of you as a student, as a writer, as a member of a club, anything.
You Can’t Kill the Rooster
Sedaris’s brother Paul has quite a mouth as we can see in this chapter! Is the way a person talks
reflective of their character? How does Sedaris point out that Paul’s foul language does not
mean he has a foul character? What do you think?
Youth in Asia
“Youth in Asia” is played with to mean “euthanasia”, or the practice of slowing killing or allowing
one with a painful condition to die. Why do you think Sedaris uses the comical reference to
“youth in Asia” when talking about something so serious?
The Learning Curve
Sedaris becomes a teacher in this chapter. His teaching methods are not great and his students
do not like him very much. What makes an effective teacher? Who was your favorite teacher?
Why?
Big Boy
Sedaris gets stuck in a pretty awkward situation in this chapter? Why didn’t he want to leave it?
Do you think this story is about just flushing turds or is the turd a metaphor for something
more?
The Great Leap Forward
Sedaris says early in the chapter after recounting graffiti he had seen in a poorer neighborhood,
“I didn’t want the rich to go away until I could at least briefly join their ranks,” (101). What do
you think of this? Would you rather personally be rich or have money equally distributed with
no one having more than another?
Today’s Special
In this chapter, Sedaris talks about his dislike of the fancy restaurants in New York City. What is
his main complaint? Why would he prefer the hotdog? Are there foods that give you a sense of
comfort?
City of Angels
Bonnie comes to New York with an image of what the city should be like, what she should see,
and how people should treat her. New York has a completely different culture than
Greensboro, though! Do you think it is better for someone to join the city’s culture, dressing up
for tea or is it better to stick to your own culture while elsewhere, wearing your overalls to a
fancy event?
A Shiner like a Diamond
Sedaris says that Amy “adored both the new look at the new person it allowed her to be,” after
she got her make-up done at the photo shoot. If you could change your appearance, what
would you do? How would that change the way people see you?
Nutcracker.com
Sedaris has a definite opinion of technology. What does he think? What do you think? Do you
think technology is helpful or does it make things problematic?