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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What is the first thing Klosterman asks Riley about in their Chapter 8 interview?

2. According to Klosterman, Billy Joel is great despite what?

3. What does Klosterman credit porn with doing in Chapter 9?

4. Klosterman believes the Laker-Celtic argument shows what about people?

5. In chapter 9, who does Klosterman suggest is the only person still using the term World Wide Web?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why did Klosterman fail as a little league coach?

2. What does Klosterman hate about Spike Lee films?

3. How does Will Wright answer the question of materialism in The Sims?

4. Why does Klosterman hate Coldplay?

5. How does Klosterman connect porn and the rise of the internet in Chapter 9?

6. What is fake love?

7. Why are amateur porn sites so popular on the internet?

8. What is the essential difference between a Laker philosophy and a Celtic philosophy?

9. How is Billy Joel an exception to the fetishism of coolness?

10. Why is Sim Chuck rejected in love?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Write an essay about Chuck Klosterman's experiment with the video game The Sims. Why was he initially drawn to try it out? Discuss his initial critique of the game and its relationship to consumerism. What limitations to happiness does Sim Chuck have, and how does the game's developer explain these? What conclusions does Klosterman draw about live as a result of this game?

Essay Topic 2

In one of the essays of Sex Drugs and Cocoa Puffs, Klosterman uses certain pup cultural conflicts to illustrate race conflict in America. In an essay, discuss Klosterman's notions about race in this country. What did The Real World illustrate about this conflict? What about the Laker/Celtic rivalry of the 1980s and 1990s? Does Klosterman seem to think race is a serious problem in this country? Why or why not?

Essay Topic 3

Chuck Klosterman's essays fall into the category of literary nonfiction, or new journalism. Most famously practiced by such writers as Norman Mailer, Joan Didion, and Truman Capote, this practice involves the journalist placing him or herself at the center of the story. Write an essay about three essays in which Klosterman plays a pivotal role in the reading of events. How is he an active player here? How does his presence affect the story? What does this alter about what else would have been a straightforward relating of events?

(see the answer keys)

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