Sedaris then uses exaggeration to reinforce the threat of failure by describing the need to "... dodge chalk and protect our heads and stomachs whenever she approached us with a question." The literal image is, of course, exaggerated for humor, but the fear of inevitable failure in the eyes of an authority figure who probably prefers our failures to our successes because of the opportunity they represent to chastise us is identifiable to most readers. Likewise, despite the exaggerated imagery, Sedaris also reminds us of the connection between anxiety from the fear of failure (particularly in front of an audience) and abdominal discomfort.

Sedaris continues in that direction, culminating in his description of the teacher's accidentally stabbing the shy Korean student in the eye with a "freshly sharpened pencil," also adding the humor in the sarcasm of the author's observation "in fairness" that the pencil attack was at least unintentional.

One of the author's best uses of humorous description and comedic exaggeration to remind the reader of identifiable fears and frustrations comes in the paragraph where the author describes his growing self-perception of being completely unable to express himself in a foreign language and the fear of public embarrassment with which most readers can...

Stopping for coffee, asking directions, depositing money in my bank account: these things were out of the question, as they involved having to speak.... When the phone rang, I ignored it. If someone asked me a question, I pretended to be deaf."
The author concludes that paragraph with his most effective uses of comedic imagery, exaggeration, sarcasm, the unexpected, and the common shared fear of public embarrassment in wondering "why they don't sell cuts of meat in vending machines," implying unmistakably, that his shame from the inability to express himself intelligently in French limited him very strictly to goods and services that are available without requiring any human interaction whatsoever.

Again, in that instance, Sedaris uses a punch line whose effectiveness is magnified by surprise, as nobody would ever imagine buying fresh meat from a vending machine. The imagery of picturing a vending machine with cold cuts dripping in their meaty juices is as effective as all of the author's other uses of comedic imagery, exaggeration, and sarcasm as vehicles for his observational commentary and humor.