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

2. What does Sly shout back at the band in "Africa Talks to You 'the Asphalt Jungle'"?
(a) "I'm a dying."
(b) "Help."
(c) "Stop."
(d) "Timber."

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

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

5. According to Marcus in "Sly Stone," what is pop culture by definition?
(a) Optimistic.
(b) Rebellious.
(c) Determined.
(d) Angry.

Short Answer Questions

1. What car did Elvis both buy and sing about?

2. Curtis Mayfield's songs in Superfly were meant to be what according to Marcus?

3. What does Leslie Fielder call the Beatles in "Randy Newman"?

4. What does Marcus point out as valuable in the Beach Boys music?

5. Who claims that "every great artist must create for a great audience"?

Short Essay Questions

1. In the section "Sly vs. Superfly," what problems emerge from the black movies being made in the early seventies? How is real life different from the movies?

2. According to Marcus in the section "Sly Versus Superfly," why does Riot matter?

3. According to Marcus in "Randy Newman," what is important about the Beach Boys? (101)

4. In "Elvis," what is Elvis' "Rockabilly Moment" (141)?

5. Why did Marcus entitle a section "Mystery Train" in "Elvis"? Why is this also the title of the book?

6. According to Marcus in "Sly Stone," how did Newton and Cleaver use the myth of Staggerlee?

7. According to Marcus in "Sly Stone," how does the music produced by Sly and the Family Stone resemble freedom?

8. According to Marcus in "Elvis," what was ironic about Elvis' natural, spontaneous appearance and sound in his music?

9. What is the basic plot for the Myth of Staggerlee?

10. What type of risk does Randy Newman make in his music? What risk does he avoid?

(see the answer keys)

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