View a FREE sample

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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What type of music did Robert Johnson sing?
(a) Country.
(b) Rock 'n' roll.
(c) Gospel.
(d) Blues.

2. How many songs did Johnson record before he died?
(a) 5.
(b) 30.
(c) 98.
(d) 29.

3. Who says "Instead of throwing a knapsack over your back and getting out on the highway, to learn about life, we were able to do it together. We were protected by one another"?
(a) Bobby Bland.
(b) Greil Marcus.
(c) Robert Manuel.
(d) Robbie Robertson.

4. Who sang "Fool about mah money/don't try to save"?
(a) Sam Phillips.
(b) Elvis Presley.
(c) Little Richard.
(d) Harmonica Frank.

5. In "Harmonica Frank -1951," what does Marcus tell was his first Elvis record?
(a) "Hound Dog."
(b) "Rockin' Chair Daddy."
(c) "Rip It Up."
(d) "(You're So Square) Baby I Don't Care."

Short Answer Questions

1. What song does Marcus claim is Robert Johnson's most terrifying song?

2. Who did Marcus speak with while in Woodstock to interview Robbie Robertson?

3. The Prologue states that Marcus wants to discuss rock 'n' roll in what context?

4. Who wrote the book discussed in the Prologue?

5. In "Harmonica Frank -1951," Marcus claims that Phillips was looking for music to do what?

Short Essay Questions

1. In the prologue, what four artists does Marcus say he will write about and why these performers?

2. In "The Band," what happens when the Band plays in San Francisco after releasing their first two albums?

3. 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?

4. Why might "The Band" be subtitled "Pilgrim's Progress"?

5. Describe Harmonica Frank. What did he do? What did he look like? What made him unique?

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

7. 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?

8. According to Marcus in "Robert Johnson -1938," how are Robert Johnson's songs relevant even today? What artist's keep his spirit and music alive?

9. Just before "The Righteous Land," Marcus quotes from "We Can Talk About It Now." The storyteller in the song tells "there's no need to slave. The whip . . . is in the grave" (53). What type of imagery does this line have and what does it mean?

10. According to Marcus in "The Band," how are Harmonica Frank and Robert Johnson relevant to The Band?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,426 words (approx. 5 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample