WorksheetsContemporary Literature and Music
Total questions: 12
Worksheet time: 6mins
What is Waiting for Godot about?
Vladimir and Estragon wait for Godot in a barren wasteland, but he never shows up.
American teenagers, obsessed with pop culture, wait for the newest musical idol, Godot.
A Southern African-American woman leaves her wretched life and makes her way to Harlem.
It is an allegory about the desire for a communist utopia is betrayed by Stalin/"Godot"
Is "Godot" God?
Yes
No
Maybe
What is Elie Wiesel's book Night about?
It is about his experience living in the Soviet Union during the Cold War.
It shows life in post-WW2 Africa during the struggle for independence.
It is an autobiographical memoir about his experience surviving in Nazi death camps.
It is a philosophical treatise that explores Absurdism.
Which of the following are writers who define the nature of the American experience post WW2?
Arthur Miller
J.D. Salinger
Flannery O'Connor
Ingmar Bergman
William Butler Yeats
How are Richard Wright's Native Son and Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man similar?
They were both books by Nobel prize winners.
They are both written in verse.
They were some of the first examples of novels that crossed over to musicals.
They both are classics that address racial injustice.
Doris Lessing, Margaret Atwood, and Adrienne Rich are writers who explore (a) consciousness.
Which of the following are characteristics of Postmodernism?
It comes after Modernism
It includes writers such as Kurt Vonneagut, Susan Sontag, Thomas Pynchon and Gabriel Garcia Marquez.
It ended with the Cold War.
It is works are of little interest to regular readers and are mostly academic.
Which of the following musicians is known for first using "serialism""
Mahler
Schonberg
Steve Aoki
Pierre Boulez
Which of the following ideas are associated with American composer John Cage?
"sound events" can be random
listeners themselves are not passive in the creation of music
music should serve the needs of the government
music should be mathematical, organized, and formal
Philip Glass
is considered a minimalist composer
was influenced by non Western music
wrote very short and focused compositions
greatly influenced the music of Willy Nelson
Popular/Pop music
was important in protest movements of the 1960s
has worldwide appeal, though much is American in origin
is the devil's music
broke completely with the past music traditions
What is a fitting description of contemporary culture?
It is pluralistic, influenced by a diversity of ideas spawned by an age of instant communication and growing technology
There is no culture any more; it is all garbage.
People have less interest in culture and the arts than ever before.
Culture and the arts are completely about money now.
