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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Who wrote "Little Wing"?
(a) Bob Dylan.
(b) Neil Young.
(c) Sly Stone.
(d) Jimmy Hendrix.

2. Who sang "I tried and I failed / And I feel like going home" (154)?
(a) Charlie Rich.
(b) Hank Williams.
(c) Carl Perkins.
(d) Elvis Presley.

3. What did RCA first present Elvis as?
(a) A country singer.
(b) The boy next door.
(c) A folksinger.
(d) A hillbilly.

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

5. What did some bullies call Elvis before he was a star and had grown side burns?
(a) Dog.
(b) Loser.
(c) Squirrel.
(d) Hippie.

6. What controversial topics are addressed in Randy Newman's song "Sail Away"?
(a) Money and race.
(b) Power and politics.
(c) Art and realism.
(d) Slavery and the American dream.

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

8. What is the name of Randy Newman's album that finally gained him a larger audience?
(a) Sunny Afternoon.
(b) The Godfather.
(c) Good Old Boys.
(d) Sail Away.

9. In "Elvis," Marcus compares Elvis to what character envisioned by Ralph Waldo Emerson?
(a) The King of Rock 'n' Roll.
(b) The elusive King of Soul.
(c) The ubiquitous King.
(d) The transcendental Sun King.

10. 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) Elvis Presley.
(b) Greil Marcus.
(c) Abraham Lincoln.
(d) Woodrow Wilson.

11. What motto of Hank Williams' made him similar to Robert Johnson according to Marcus?
(a) Life goes on.
(b) The end is near.
(c) What life doesn't give me, I'll take.
(d) Nothing really matters.

12. What is Sly Stone's given name?
(a) Sly Stone.
(b) Sylvester Stewart.
(c) Sylvester Stone.
(d) Stanley Stewart.

13. What political group does Marcus compare to Sly Stone's music in "Sly Stone"?
(a) Democrats.
(b) Republicans.
(c) Black Panthers.
(d) Fundamentalists.

14. To which historical figure does Marcus compare Elvis?
(a) Stevie Wonder.
(b) Abraham Lincoln.
(c) Ralph Waldo Emerson.
(d) Richard Nixon.

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

Short Answer Questions

1. What church did Elvis attend as a boy?

2. Who wrote "There's a mickie in the tastin' of disaster" (90)?

3. What was on the cover of Riot?

4. Who, according to Marcus, gave Staggerlee the cruelest epitaph?

5. What did Sly Stone call his band?

(see the answer keys)

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