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

2. Klosterman believes that all women think John Cusack is really his character from which film?

3. What separates Paradise City from other Guns-N-Roses tribute bands?

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

5. According to Klosterman in Chapter 3, every Real World character became a what?

Short Essay Questions

1. How are Marilyn Monroe and Pamela Anderson similar?

2. Describe the gig at the end of Chapter 5.

3. What is the difference between the sexuality Monroe represents and the sexuality Anderson represents?

4. What does Klosterman learn about his life from his Sim?

5. Why does Klosterman hate Coldplay?

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

7. What is the value of celebrity nudity sites on the net?

8. How did Woody Allen change and then fail to change romantic perceptions?

9. Why is Sim Chuck rejected in love?

10. What does Klosterman hate about Spike Lee films?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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 2

Music plays an incredibly important role in Chuck Klosterman's writing, particularly as he is a former music critic for Rolling Stone magazine. Write an essay about three musicians that Klosterman clearly believes illuminate some essential truth about life. Why is Klosterman drawn to this particular musician? What does this musician have to say about life, and why does Klosterman believe this profundity has been hidden from public understanding?

Part 1) Guns-N-Roses

Part 2) Billy Joel

Part 3) Trisha Yearwood

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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