501 Critical Reading Questions

(Sean Pound) #1
for a nation on the brink of the Civil Rights movement—a kind of
music that had the power to cross boundaries, to heal wounds, and to
offer hope to a new generation of Americans.


  1. In Passage 1, the author’s main goal is to
    a. solve the mystery of the genesis of Johnson’s talent.
    b.provide a detailed description of Johnson’s music and style.
    c. provide a brief overview of Johnson’s life and influence.
    d.prove that Johnson should be recognized as the greatest blues
    musician who ever lived.
    e.explain how Johnson’s music impacted the world of rock and roll.

  2. The information provided in the passage suggests that Johnson
    a. really did make a deal with the devil.
    b.was determined to become a great guitarist, whatever the cost.
    c. wasn’t as talented as we have been led to believe.
    d.disappeared because he had a breakdown.
    e.owes his success to Son House and Willie Brown.

  3. The word neologismin Passage 2, line 10 means
    a. a new word or use of a word.
    b.a grassroots musical form.
    c. a fictional character or fictitious setting.
    d.the origin or source of something.
    c. the evolution of a person, place, or thing.

  4. In Passage 2, the sentence People all across America—black and white,
    young and old, listened to songs with lyrics that were intensely honest and
    personal, songs that told about any number of things that give us the
    blues: loneliness, betrayal, unrequited love, a run of bad luck, being out of
    work or away from home or broke or broken hearted(lines 43–47), the
    author is
    a. defining blues music.
    b.identifying the origin of the blues.
    c. describing the lyrics of a famous blues song.
    d.explaining why blues remakes were so popular.
    e.making a connection between the blues and the Civil Rights
    movement.


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