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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. In the "Strategy" section of "Forerunners of Modern Music," what term does Cage say "may be controlled or not, as one chooses"?

2. What would Cage rather do than write about Erik Satie?

3. Who composed "Exercises de piano"?

4. What female author did Cage ask Dr. Suzuki about at dinner?

5. One of the questions Cage asked in "Composition as Process--3" was if anyone had seen this man lately?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Cage describe the creation of "Music for Piano"?

2. Describe what Cage said about the French and the Italians in a conversation he recalls having at a Venetian restaurant.

3. Why does the author say he is grateful to Richard K. Winslow?

4. How does Cage go about exploring the work of each composer he mentions in "Composition as Process--2: Indeterminacy"?

5. How does Cage feel about poetry, according to what he says in his Foreword?

6. How has Cage's process of composition evolved?

7. How does Cage answer his own question about whether music can be composed without writing it in pencil or ink?

8. What is the purpose of the section in "Composition as Process--III: Communication" where the author answers questions with more questions?

9. How does Cage describe the way Christian Wolff wrote music?

10. What does Cage say about finding facts on the life and work of Edgard Varese?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Explore the contrast created in Cage's essay which is an imaginary conversation between himself and Erik Satie. Discuss the mathematical presence in Cage's parts in relation to the near-poetic sensibility revealed in Satie's part. Why do you think the author takes this tone for his parts? Do you think he is really so cold about Satie? Why or why not?

Essay Topic 2

What ideas or people does Cage say inspired him as an artist? What techniques does the author use to convey to the reader that these ideas or people have inspired him? In other sections in Part 1, do you see traces of these influences?

Essay Topic 3

What is the significance of the series of anecdotes relating the perspective of various innovators in philosophy and art that only the present is important found in "History of Experimental Music in the United States"? Looking at each of the three anecdotes, what do they have in common, aside from their overall theme? In the article, does Cage ever say whether he agrees or disagrees with these sentiments? How does he seem to feel about the past and the future?

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