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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. According to Marcus, what do popular artists do for people?
(a) Create a community.
(b) Isolate them from people who dislike their music.
(c) Take away fear and pain.
(d) Speak for them.

2. The song "We Can Talk About It Now" creates what kind of image?
(a) The country at its best.
(b) A broken heart.
(c) The country at its worst.
(d) Homecoming.

3. What does Marcus name the storyteller from The Band's lyrics?
(a) The knight.
(b) Big Pink.
(c) Bob.
(d) The worried man.

4. What book is being discussed on the television show sketch used in the Prologue?
(a) Rich Man, Poor Man.
(b) Love Story.
(c) The Notebook.
(d) Of Mice and Men.

5. According to Marcus, what problem does the storyteller of Stage Fright face?
(a) No one helps him when he reaches out.
(b) He cannot find home.
(c) He resents his success.
(d) He has lost his love.

6. What does Marcus think the performers discussed in the Prologue have in common?
(a) They all were ex-patriots.
(b) Each based his songs on personal experience.
(c) Everyone toured together.
(d) They see themselves as symbolic Americans.

7. Who interrupts the fight over the book in the Prologue?
(a) Little Richard.
(b) John Simon.
(c) Erich Segal.
(d) Rita Moreno.

8. According to the Prologue, why are Harmonica Frank and Robert Johnson included in Mystery Train?
(a) They preceded rock 'n' roll.
(b) They were against rock 'n' roll.
(c) They are rock 'n' roll legends.
(d) They taught the rock 'n' roll legends.

9. How did Robert Johnson die?
(a) Drug overdose.
(b) Suicide.
(c) Murdered.
(d) Old age.

10. What betrayal does the song "Tears of Rage" convey?
(a) America betrayed by those who refuse it.
(b) A man betrayed by his best friend.
(c) A husband betrayed by his wife.
(d) Americans betrayed by the promise for success.

11. What is Sam Phillips' profession?
(a) Singer.
(b) Musician.
(c) Songwriter.
(d) Record producer.

12. Who said "I learned the words to Little Richard's songs the best I could and what I couldn't figure out didn't matter"?
(a) Bob Dylan.
(b) Bo Diddley.
(c) Robbie Robertson.
(d) Ronnie Hawkins.

13. What song does Marcus claim to be "the most menacing piece of rock 'n' roll ever made"?
(a) "How Many More Years."
(b) "Who Do You Love."
(c) "Bo Diddley."
(d) "Stones in My Passway."

14. According to Marcus in "Harmonica Frank -1951," whose music caught the spirit and sound of Harmonica Frank and made it popular?
(a) Sam Phillips.
(b) Little Richard.
(c) Bob Dylan.
(d) Elvis Presley.

15. With whom did the Band play from 1965 to 1966, helping him and themselves to improve and gain popularity?
(a) Ronnie Hawkins.
(b) Elvis Presley.
(c) Bob Dylan.
(d) Bo Diddley.

Short Answer Questions

1. In "Harmonica Frank -1951," what does Marcus tell was his first Elvis record?

2. In "The Band," what does Marcus point to as the reason that The Band had the influences of many different bands and yet had an original sound?

3. According to Marcus in "Robert Johnson -1938," what gives music "mythical authority"?

4. In "Harmonica Frank -1951," who is the "latest Ahab"?

5. What religious group does Marcus compare blues singers to in "Robert Johnson -1938"?

(see the answer keys)

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