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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Who wrote: "You run without moving from a terror in which you cannot believe"?
(a) Robert Johnson.
(b) Greil Marcus.
(c) William Faulkner.
(d) F. Scott Fitzgerald.

2. What does Marcus name the storyteller from The Band's lyrics?
(a) Bob.
(b) The worried man.
(c) The knight.
(d) Big Pink.

3. In "Robert Johnson - 1938," why do some of Robert Johnson's contemporaries say that Johnson sold his soul to the devil?
(a) He practiced voodoo.
(b) He began speaking in tongues.
(c) He bragged about it in his songs.
(d) He learned to play the blues quickly.

4. What happened the first day of The Band's first concert after releasing The Band?
(a) They played their best performance.
(b) They broke up.
(c) They invented crowd surfing.
(d) They got stage fright.

5. What does Marcus say failure mean to Americans in "Robert Johnson -1938"?
(a) Despair.
(b) Loss.
(c) Opportunity.
(d) Betrayal.

Short Answer Questions

1. What is Sam Phillips' profession?

2. How did Marcus feel when Elvis was drafted?

3. In "The Band," what is Marcus' "sentimental favorite" American motto?

4. Who wrote the book discussed in the Prologue?

5. How does Marcus define a band in "The Band"?

Short Essay Questions

1. According to Marcus in the introduction to "The Band," what message did The Band send to its audience?

2. What is the relationship between the rock 'n' roll artist and audience according to Greil Marcus in the prologue?

3. In "Harmonica Frank - 1951," what exactly is the American spirit that Marcus believes Harmonica Frank brought to rock n' roll?

4. Describe Robert Johnson's musical career. How did his contemporaries feel about his abilities? Is his music still relevant?

5. What type of music was Sam Phillips attempting to find and why?

6. Describe the example of an artist that Greil Marcus uses in the prologue. Who is an artist and why? Why are the other people in the example not artists?

7. Marcus analyzes Robert Johnson's "Stones in My Passway" in "Robert Johnson -1938." What is the song about and what are the tools that Johnson uses to create the mood?

8. According to Marcus in "The Band," who is the storyteller in Big Pink and what is his story?

9. There are several dualisms that Marcus identifies the Band reflecting on in "The Righteous Land " section of "The Band." What are two of these dualisms and what aspect of America do they reflect?

10. In "The Band," what is one philosophical assumption that Marcus makes in the section "The Righteous Land"?

(see the answer keys)

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