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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. Cage says the trouble with what city is its past?

2. In what state does Cage say he grew up?

3. Cage and his friend accidentally steal what item of clothing from a party to which he was not invited?

4. Cage commissioned a school's P.E. department to play his music to accompany what?

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

Short Essay Questions

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

2. 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?

3. How does Cage say "Where Are We Going? And What Are We Doing?" should be delivered?

4. What does Cage say about the form of "Where Are We Going? And What Are We Doing?"

5. What happened when Cage told a technician during a recording session what to expect from his music?

6. What does Cage say about change in "Where Are We Going? And What Are We Doing?"

7. What contributions is painter Robert Rauschenberg known for?

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

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

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Explore Cage's writings about Satie and Varese and compare and contrast his opinions of each one. What opinions does he have about what each man contributed to the evolution of music?: What does Cage say about the relevance of each composer? What does he seem to attribute to them? Whom does he seem to admire more?

Essay Topic 2

Explore the contrast created in Cage's essay which is an imaginary conversation between himself and Erik Satie. Discuss the mathematical presence in Cage's parts in relation to the near-poetic sensibility revealed in Satie's part. Why do you think the author takes this tone for his parts? Do you think he is really so cold about Satie? Why or why not?

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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