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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 political group does Marcus compare to Sly Stone's music in "Sly Stone"?
(a) Fundamentalists.
(b) Democrats.
(c) Republicans.
(d) Black Panthers.

2. Why did political activist, Eldridge Cleaver, not want to go to jail?
(a) He did not want to lose his friends.
(b) He was afraid to be the next Billy Lyons.
(c) He was innocent.
(d) He loved freedom too much.

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

4. According to the myth, who did Staggerlee shoot?
(a) Himself.
(b) A stranger.
(c) Leroy Brown.
(d) Billy the Lion.

5. 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"?
(a) Randy Newman.
(b) Van Morrison.
(c) Rod Stewart.
(d) John Lennon.

Short Answer Questions

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

2. In "Elvis," Marcus compares Elvis to what character envisioned by Ralph Waldo Emerson?

3. What is the name of Randy Newman's album that finally gained him a larger audience?

4. According to Marcus in "Sly Stone," what two words make the song "Poet" poetry?

5. What was on the cover of Riot?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. 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?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

(see the answer keys)

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