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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Who said "This is the mystery of democracy . . . that its richest fruits spring up out of souls which no man has prepared and in circumstances where they are least expected"?
(a) Abraham Lincoln.
(b) Greil Marcus.
(c) Woodrow Wilson.
(d) Elvis Presley.

2. According to Marcus in "Elvis," what was the public unsure about when Elvis' music first came out?
(a) What the music was about.
(b) How to listen to him.
(c) If he was black or white.
(d) If he was country or rock 'n' roll.

3. Who wrote "obviously, it is easier to kill than to create" (95)?
(a) Josef von Sternberg.
(b) Sly Stone.
(c) Nietszche.
(d) Greil Marcus.

4. According to Marcus in "Elvis," why does Elvis NOT owe blacks anything?
(a) They did not copyright the style.
(b) They gave the style away freely.
(c) The music was a throwaway.
(d) He made the music his own.

5. What song by Randy Newman was a satire on bigotry?
(a) "Davy the Fat Boy."
(b) "Short People."
(c) "God's Song."
(d) "Suzanne."

6. Who wrote "Hound Dog"?
(a) Robert Johnson.
(b) Carl Perkins.
(c) Elvis Presley.
(d) Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller.

7. Curtis Mayfield's songs in Superfly were meant to be what according to Marcus?
(a) Superficial.
(b) Legendary.
(c) Parody.
(d) Direct.

8. What two lines from an Elvis song does Marcus claim are the most perfect lines in blues?
(a) "I tried and I failed / And I feel like going home" (154).
(b) "That's All Right" and "My Baby Left Me" (155).
(c) "If you don't believe I'm leavin' / You can count the days I'm gone" (152).
(d) "I'm gonna quit my crying / I'm gonna leave you alone" (152).

9. What literary figure does Marcus allude to in "Sly Stone" when identifying how Sly speaks in the music?
(a) Frodo.
(b) Starbuck.
(c) Golem.
(d) Ahab.

10. What Randy Newman song does Marcus claim suggests that the we are being laughed at and life is a joke?
(a) "Short People."
(b) "Burn On."
(c) "God's Song."
(d) "Suzanne."

11. What archetype does Newman represent?
(a) The American philosopher.
(b) Keeper of American imagination.
(c) Journeyman.
(d) Doomed lover.

12. What single did Sly release that was the "most optimistic of all"?
(a) "Everybody is a Star."
(b) "Dance to the Music."
(c) "Stand!"
(d) "Riot."

13. What type of audience does Marcus believe Randy Newman attracts?
(a) Punk.
(b) Retro.
(c) Pop.
(d) Cult.

14. In "Elvis," what song does Marcus use to illustrate the work Elvis puts into his music?
(a) "Boy Who Stole the Blues."
(b) "Good Rockin."
(c) "Milkcow Blues Boogie."
(d) "Hound Dog."

15. What political group does Marcus compare to Sly Stone's music in "Sly Stone"?
(a) Republicans.
(b) Democrats.
(c) Black Panthers.
(d) Fundamentalists.

Short Answer Questions

1. According to Marcus, what does Elvis symbolize?

2. When referencing the South, who said "it's the only place in the country I've ever been where you can actually drive down the highway at night, and if you listen, you hear music"?

3. At the time Riot was made, who was making the decisions about what kind of records would be created?

4. Who sang "I tried and I failed / And I feel like going home" (154)?

5. What was on the cover of Riot?

(see the answer keys)

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