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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 many days did it take Cage's friend to sort through a box of spices and foods that had become mixed up in transit?

2. In "Where Are We Going? And What Are We Doing?" Cage says he never lived in one place more than how long?

3. Meister Eckhart said in sermons that he would like to be rid of what?

4. In "45' for a Speaker," Cage compares listening to Christian Wolff's music to suddenly doing what?

5. What school did Merce Cunningham attend when he met Cage?

Short Essay Questions

1. In the third layer of "Where Are We Going? And What Are We Doing?", what does Cage say about where "we are going"?

2. Where did Cage get the idea to write "Where Are We Going? And What Are We Doing?"

3. Why did Vera Williams' children cry when she served them mushrooms on their steak?

4. In the fourth layer of "Where Are We Going? And What Are We Doing?", what does Cage say about moving into the field of experience and being?

5. What happened when Cage attended a party to which he was not invited and asked the hostess for rum to drink?

6. Describe the process Cage using for writing "45' for a Speaker."

7. What does Cage suggests that Morton Feldman felt about opposites?

8. What does the author say about modern dance and whether it works?

9. What does Cage say about the title of his article called "2 Pages, 122 Words on Music and Dance"?

10. How did Cage come to be in possession of a coat belonging to Ms. Reis?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Explore Cage's concern with his own creative process in relation to his concern with what the audience receives? When do you first get a sense of Cage's concern with experimenting with process? What does he seem most concerned with? Why might he feel this way? How does this prioritization relate to his overall non-traditional approach to creating?

Essay Topic 2

How did Cage once feel about being labeled "experimental"? Why did he feel that way? What has he come to realize about the term? How does he feel about the label at the time "Experimental Music" is written?

Essay Topic 3

Explore the significance of the essay on Rauschenberg. Why do you think Cage includes a chapter about a painter in his book which mostly deals with music? What idea does Rauschenberg seem to share with Cage about art and creating it? What does it say about the author that he, as a composer, has similar ideas to a painter? What might this say about his artistic movement as a whole?

(see the answer keys)

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