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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. Why does Marcus discuss many movies in "Sly Stone"?
(a) They are about black people.
(b) They all include the Staggerlee myth.
(c) Sly Stone made the soundtracks for them.
(d) They are biographies for Sly Stone.

2. According to Marcus in "Sly Stone," what two words make the song "Poet" poetry?
(a) Grinnin and chasin.
(b) Run and stop.
(c) Begin and start.
(d) Devil and bullets.

3. According to Marcus, what did Staggerlee represent to the black community?
(a) Corruption.
(b) Death.
(c) Hope.
(d) Freedom.

4. What did Seale attempt to use as a political threat?
(a) The judicial system.
(b) Peaceful marches.
(c) Petitions.
(d) Criminal violence.

5. What was the original name of the style that Elvis sang?
(a) Country.
(b) Rhythm and Blues.
(c) Rockabilly.
(d) Rock 'n' Roll.

Short Answer Questions

1. Who wrote "Papa Was a Rolling Stone?'

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

3. What controversial topics are addressed in Randy Newman's song "Sail Away"?

4. Who wrote "We needed . . . to be violently stirred into life . . . intolerable social constraints grew daily upon us"?

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

Short Essay Questions

1. Describe Randy Newman's style; what does he sound like? What influences are in the music?

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

3. In "Elvis," Marcus discusses the Pink Cadillac as being the downfall of Elvis. What does the Pink Cadillac symbolize and how is it Elvis' downfall?

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

5. In "Sly Stone," how are the first two albums produced by Sly and the Family Stone similar and different?

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

7. Why was "Short People" so controversial? What did this mean for Newman?

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

9. According to Marcus in "Sly Stone," why did Sly Stone create the album Riot ?

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

(see the answer keys)

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