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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. According to Klosterman, Coldplay is a worst version of which two other bands?

3. In Chapter 9, Klosterman says the internet allows people to participate in what?

4. Why is Chuck's Sim unable to form a romantic relationship with Bella?

5. In his grandest statement of Chapter 6, Klosterman says Anderson represents what?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why do so many children play soccer, according to Klosterman?

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

3. What is fake love?

4. How did Nora Ephron ruin a lot of young lives?

5. According to Klosterman in Chapter 4, what is Generation X's connection with coolness?

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

7. What does Klosterman hate about Spike Lee films?

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

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

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

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 Sex Drugs and Cocoa Puffs, Klosterman uses popular culture to explain the drives and attitudes of Generation X'ers. Write a three-part essay about Klosterman's conception of Generation X:

Part 1) Why did the movies of John Cusack render love a virtual impossibility for Generation X? What false expectations did the movies of the 1980s and '90s create, and how has Klosterman repeatedly been foiled by them?

Part 2) What is Generation X's obsession with coolness, according to Klosterman? Discuss how his generation was conditioned at a young age to desire coolness as an ideal? How did cereal ads play a role in this indoctrination? What is the nature of cool to Gen X?

Part 3) Discuss how Gen X feels an unbreakable bond with Luke Skywalker. What in the original Star Wars films typifies the worldview of this generation? What role does failure and struggle play in this kinship?

Essay Topic 3

Choose a chapter from Sex Drugs and Cocoa Puffs, and in a three part essay analyze the way Chuck Klosterman explores his central theme. Divide the analysis of this chapter into the following parts:

Part 1) What is the subject of the chapter (Laker/Celtic rivalry, The Sims)? What is his personal relationship with this topic, and how does society as a whole tend to view it? Are his opinion and the broader cultural understanding at odds? If so, how?

Part 2) What process does Klosterman use to analyze the significance of this subject? Does he explore its etymology and the critical or societal reaction to it? Does he explore his own relationship with the subject? How does his impression of the subject change as he explores it?

Part 3) Discuss the thematic subject of the chapter. What larger truth does Klosterman's exploration of the subject reveal? How does his and our understanding of America, art, and Generation X expand as a result of this exploration?

(see the answer keys)

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