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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. Where in school was Klosterman when he began researching serial killers?

2. What realization does the protagonist of Waking Life have at the end of the film?

3. Who does Klosterman declare in Chapter 17 does not take music theory seriously in this day and age?

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

5. What path do Gen X'ers normally choose in life, according to Klosterman in Chapter 12?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. How does a Dixie Chicks concert reveal a cultural shift to Chuck Klosterman?

3. Describe Klosterman's process for extracting truth from low culture.

4. Why does Klosterman posit that traveling forward in time is less fraught than traveling back?

5. How was the Tori Paradox the most realistic part of Saved by the Bell?

6. What is the value of lyrics in popular music?

7. Describe to conflict between alternative and mainstream country music.

8. How does the timing of sources affect bias in the news, according to Klosterman?

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

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

In Sex Drugs and Cocoa Puffs, Klosterman uses popular culture to explain the drives and attitudes of Generation X'ers. Write a three-part essay about Klosterman's conception of Generation X:

Part 1) Why did the movies of John Cusack render love a virtual impossibility for Generation X? What false expectations did the movies of the 1980s and '90s create, and how has Klosterman repeatedly been foiled by them?

Part 2) What is Generation X's obsession with coolness, according to Klosterman? Discuss how his generation was conditioned at a young age to desire coolness as an ideal? How did cereal ads play a role in this indoctrination? What is the nature of cool to Gen X?

Part 3) Discuss how Gen X feels an unbreakable bond with Luke Skywalker. What in the original Star Wars films typifies the worldview of this generation? What role does failure and struggle play in this kinship?

Essay Topic 2

Chuck Klosterman's essays fall into the category of literary nonfiction, or new journalism. Most famously practiced by such writers as Norman Mailer, Joan Didion, and Truman Capote, this practice involves the journalist placing him or herself at the center of the story. Write an essay about three essays in which Klosterman plays a pivotal role in the reading of events. How is he an active player here? How does his presence affect the story? What does this alter about what else would have been a straightforward relating of events?

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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