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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. "A Supermarket in America" describes Ginsberg grocery shopping with a vision of whom?
(a) Shakespeare.
(b) Walt Whitman.
(c) Karl Marx.
(d) Norman Mailer.

2. Where was Neal Cassady born?
(a) Denver, CO.
(b) Los Angeles, NY.
(c) Salt Lake City, UT.
(d) New York, NY.

3. Who opened the City Lights Bookstore?
(a) Jack Kerouac.
(b) Lawrence Ferlinghetti.
(c) Allen Ginsberg.
(d) John Clellon Holmes.

4. When did Allen Ginsberg begin attending Columbia University?
(a) 1947.
(b) 1944.
(c) 1946.
(d) 1952.

5. William S. Burroughs' family made a fortune from producing ____________.
(a) Ink pens.
(b) Adding machines.
(c) Fur coats.
(d) Watches.

6. In Neal Cassady's letter to Kerouac from Kansas City, Cassady explains how he met a girl named ___________.
(a) Patricia.
(b) Mary.
(c) Carolyn.
(d) Sarah.

7. When did Neal Cassady move to New York and meet Allen Ginsberg and Jack Kerouac?
(a) 1950.
(b) 1947.
(c) 1945.
(d) 1942.

8. In what year was Jack Kerouac born?
(a) 1925.
(b) 1927.
(c) 1922.
(d) 1930.

9. In what year was the novel Go published?
(a) 1955.
(b) 1948.
(c) 1951.
(d) 1952.

10. Who is the author of the poem "Plus Ca Change"?
(a) Michael McClure.
(b) Gary Snyder.
(c) Philip Whalen.
(d) Michael Ewing.

11. When did Herbert Huncke meet William S. Burroughs?
(a) 1951.
(b) 1940.
(c) 1947.
(d) 1944.

12. In what year did Gregory Corso meet Allen Ginsberg?
(a) 1945.
(b) 1944.
(c) 1950.
(d) 1943.

13. In his letters to Kerouac, whom does Cassady write that he has been sleeping with, but her mother doesn't like him?
(a) Margaret.
(b) Mary.
(c) Patricia.
(d) Joan.

14. For whom was Jack Kerouac once a sports writer?
(a) The Princeton Review.
(b) The Herald Review.
(c) The Lowell Sun.
(d) The Columbia Sun.

15. Who became Allen Ginsberg's lover after his move to California?
(a) Adam Schwartz.
(b) Mark Patterson.
(c) Peter Orlovsky.
(d) Michael Orlovsky.

Short Answer Questions

1. What is the name of Michael McClure's fictionalized character in Big Sur?

2. To whom does Allen Ginsberg write from a mental institution in "Howl"?

3. What is Allen Ginsberg's most famous work?

4. William Everson credits Rexroth with launching Beat poetry more so than whom?

5. What were the charges brought against the poem "Howl"?

(see the answer keys)

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