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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. How did Klosterman personally feel about the Pop Music Studies conference?

2. What does Klosterman state is the essential question of all modern great films?

3. What does Valentine say is thriving in Owl?

4. In Chapter 14, which country star's song does Chuck Klosterman dissect in detail?

5. What religion was Klosterman raised in?

Short Essay Questions

1. How is Luke Skywalker's relationship with Darth Vader a familiar relationship to Gen X'ers?

2. Why is serial killing a modern crime?

3. How has the portrayal of reality in films changed between the golden age of the 1970s and today, according to Klosterman?

4. Why does Mitch dislike his coach in Downtown Owl?

5. How do page designers affect the news?

6. How has the quality of the Star Wars franchise been incorrectly assessed, according to Klosterman in Chapter 12?

7. What do the 23 questions of this section deal with?

8. What is the essence of coolness, as described in Chapter 10?

9. What does Klosterman think that "what is reality?" films are teaching us?

10. What example does Klosterman offer in Eating the Dinosaur to illustrate the loss of origins in time travel?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Throughout Sex Drugs and Cocoa Puffs, Chuck Klosterman discusses the idea of coolness in American society. What does Klosterman think of the pursuit of coolness? What are the essential elements of cool? Does he think coolness is a worthwhile goal to pursue? Cite specific examples from the book to argue Klosterman's position.

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

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?

(see the answer keys)

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