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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. In what song does Sly Stone mock his own song "Thank you falettinme be mice elf Agin"?
(a) "Blowin Your Mind."
(b) "Bonnie and Clyde."
(c) "Africa Talks to You 'The Asphalt Jungle.'"
(d) "Thank you for talkin' to me Africa."

2. Who claims that "every great artist must create for a great audience"?
(a) Bob Christgau.
(b) Greil Marcus.
(c) Randy Newman.
(d) The Beatles.

3. Marcus tells that Melville once wrote that a man is only free if he says what?
(a) Mine.
(b) No.
(c) Help.
(d) Yes.

4. According to Marcus in "Randy Newman," whose song was Randy Newman answering in his version of "Suzanne"?
(a) Leonard Cohen.
(b) The Beach Boys.
(c) The Beatles.
(d) Robert Johnson.

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

Short Answer Questions

1. In what voice does Newman sing his songs?

2. Who said "if I couldn't perform I'd give up . . . It's not a question of the money side of it. . . not having that ninety minutes up there anymore. Phew. I don't like to think about it"?

3. What is the mood in the Riot album?

4. What political group does Marcus compare to Sly Stone's music in "Sly Stone"?

5. What Randy Newman song does Marcus claim suggests that the we are being laughed at and life is a joke?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Marcus define pop culture optimism and pessimism in "Sly Stone"?

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

3. What is the epitaph written by John Hurt? Why does Marcus include the Stag-o-lee epitaph at the end of "Sly Stone: The Myth of Staggerlee"?

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

5. According to Marcus in "Elvis," in what ways can Elvis be considered a myth?

6. 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?

7. Why does Marcus compare the Fresh album by Sly to "Nietzsche's belief that he who gazes into the abyss will find the abyss looking back; that he who looks too long at monsters may well become one" (90)?

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

9. According to Marcus in "Elvis," what are Elvis Presley's roots?

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

(see the answer keys)

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