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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. According to Klosterman in Chapter 1, an intellectual relationship is no different from what?

2. Which band member of Paradise City is the band leader looking to replace?

3. Which of the following is not an Electronic Arts game mentioned in Chapter 2?

4. According to Klosterman, the characters in The Sims are slave to what?

5. What does Paradise City say they get that most original bands do not?

Short Essay Questions

1. What conclusion does Klosterman come to regarding the Lakers and Celtics at the end of Chapter 8?

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

3. Describe Chuck Klosterman's holiday tradition.

4. Why is Madonna not the sexual icon that Pamela Anderson is?

5. According to Klosterman, how did The Real World create modern youth culture?

6. At the beginning of Chapter 5, what odd existence does Klosterman describe regarding tribute bands?

7. Why did Puck and Pedro transcend The Real World frame?

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

9. How was the first season of The Real World different from subsequent seasons?

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Write an essay about the unifying worldview that runs throughout all of the essays in Sex Drugs and Cocoa Puffs. What does Klosterman think about popular culture in modern America? What is its connection to the overall cultural zeitgeist? What does it reveal about humanities wants and fears? Does Klosterman give any inkling as to his political leanings? What does he refuse to admit about himself and his personal values?

Essay Topic 2

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?

Essay Topic 3

Much of Sex Drags and Cocoa Puffs is dedicated to the profundity of frivolous topics like The Real World and Vanilla Sky. In two of the latter chapters, Klosterman focuses on two more socially dire topics, and his tone changes dramatically. Analyze these two chapters and the tone surrounding them in three parts:

Part 1) What is the nature of Chuck Klosterman's interest in serial killers? How did it start, and what does he want to understand about them? Discuss the research that Klosterman does into serial killers. What does he grow to understand through this research, and why does he have difficulty accepting it?

Part 2) Why does Chuck Klosterman's past render him particularly adept at exploring current trends in journalism? What lessons does he impart in this book, and how do these lessons explain the struggle of print journalism to survive? What conclusions does he draw about the future of print?

(see the answer keys)

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