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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What archetype does Newman represent?
(a) Journeyman.
(b) Keeper of American imagination.
(c) The American philosopher.
(d) Doomed lover.

2. In "Elvis," what song does Elvis make his own by changing the story from hopelessness to hope?
(a) "Mystery Train."
(b) "Hound Dog. "
(c) "Baby Let's Play House."
(d) "Pink Cadillac."

3. Marcus tells that Melville once wrote that a man is only free if he says what?
(a) Yes.
(b) Help.
(c) Mine.
(d) No.

4. Who said "This is the mystery of democracy . . . that its richest fruits spring up out of souls which no man has prepared and in circumstances where they are least expected"?
(a) Greil Marcus.
(b) Abraham Lincoln.
(c) Elvis Presley.
(d) Woodrow Wilson.

5. In what song does Sly Stone mock his own song "Thank you falettinme be mice elf Agin"?
(a) "Bonnie and Clyde."
(b) "Blowin Your Mind."
(c) "Africa Talks to You 'The Asphalt Jungle.'"
(d) "Thank you for talkin' to me Africa."

6. What does Leslie Fielder call the Beatles in "Randy Newman"?
(a) Imaginary Americans.
(b) Democrats.
(c) Pop stars.
(d) Ancestors.

7. Who does Marcus quote to introduce the chapter "Randy Newman"?
(a) Raymond Chandler.
(b) Robert Johnson.
(c) Sly Stone.
(d) Randy Newman.

8. What two lines from an Elvis song does Marcus claim are the most perfect lines in blues?
(a) "That's All Right" and "My Baby Left Me" (155).
(b) "If you don't believe I'm leavin' / You can count the days I'm gone" (152).
(c) "I tried and I failed / And I feel like going home" (154).
(d) "I'm gonna quit my crying / I'm gonna leave you alone" (152).

9. According to Marcus in "Elvis," what was the public unsure about when Elvis' music first came out?
(a) What the music was about.
(b) How to listen to him.
(c) If he was country or rock 'n' roll.
(d) If he was black or white.

10. Who claims that "every great artist must create for a great audience"?
(a) Bob Christgau.
(b) Greil Marcus.
(c) The Beatles.
(d) Randy Newman.

11. Where does the line "They're animals anyway . . . let them lose their souls" come from?
(a) The Godfather.
(b) Trouble Man.
(c) Cleopatra Jones.
(d) Hit Man.

12. What is the mood in the Riot album?
(a) Oppression.
(b) Hope.
(c) Joy.
(d) Anger.

13. What car did Elvis both buy and sing about?
(a) A white limousine.
(b) A red Ferrari.
(c) A pink Cadillac.
(d) A blue truck.

14. According to Marcus in "Elvis," why does Elvis NOT owe blacks anything?
(a) They did not copyright the style.
(b) The music was a throwaway.
(c) He made the music his own.
(d) They gave the style away freely.

15. In the introduction to "Elvis," Marcus claims that Elvis epitomizes what?
(a) The worst of our culture.
(b) The chaos of Harmonica Frank.
(c) The anger of Robert Johnson.
(d) The best of our culture.

Short Answer Questions

1. Who said "when I was a boy . . . I was the hero in comic books and movies. I grew up believing in a dream"?

2. What literary term does Marcus identify with the line "When he died, all he left us was alone"?

3. Who sang "I tried and I failed / And I feel like going home" (154)?

4. What is the name of Randy Newman's album that finally gained him a larger audience?

5. Who wrote "Hound Dog"?

(see the answer keys)

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