READTHEORY Passage and Questions

Name________________
Date________________
• Reading Comprehension Assessment
Directions: Read the passage. Then answer the questions below.

Passage 1
There is a famous story told about the blues guitarist Robert Johnson.
Before he could play guitar, he met a mysterious man at a crossroads. There,
the man tuned Johnson’s guitar and taught him to play it. Johnson instantly
became the best guitarist on the planet, though he was doomed to a life of
tragedy. See, the mysterious man was actually the Devil, and Johnson had sold
his soul in order to learn to play blues guitar!
This story has been passed on for generations. Music writers such as Greil Marcus and Robert
Palmer have added embellishments to it, while other writers such as Bruce Conforth and Ishman Bracey
have tried to disprove the (obviously suspect) claims. Regardless, the legend helped build up an air of
mystery about Johnson. Adding to the mystery is the fact that there is scant information about Johnson’s
actual life. We know he was born in Mississippi in 1911 and died in another part of Mississippi 27 years
later. We know also that he recorded at least 29 songs sometime between 1935 and 1937. And we know
that the songs are very good.
What we don’t know is most of the middle of the story. Johnson traveled from town to town for
most of the 1930s, and most information we do know comes from other musicians whose memories are
not always reliable. We don’t even actually know how he died, only that he did die. What has survived in
clearer form is the legend, and when facts are few, legends often become fact.

Passage 2
The blues figure—that is, not only the singer of the blues but also the person who embodies the
blues—is mysterious. He or she is a liberated person but also a dangerous person. After all, anyone that
free has to be a danger. Thus, the stories and legends that grow around blues figures tend to emphasize
danger and wildness. A blues woman might present herself as wild and hysterical, while a blues man
might be violent and crazy. But to a blues fan, both represent an alluring freedom and excitement.
To polite society, though, the blues person is always considered threatening. After all, societies
are based on rules and polity, on laws and decorum. But the blues figure exists outside those margins.
The blues figure travels from town to town, playing music, rather than settling in one place and raising a
family. He or she gives an actual voice to the feelings everyone has but will not share, rather than
keeping them inside. And the stories about the blues figure capture that rebellious spirit. The blues figure
represents freedom, and blues music allows for temporary liberation from the sadness of reality.

1) Passage 1 makes it clear that Robert Johnson died in

A. 1927
B. 1929
C. 1937
D. 1938
2) According to Passage 1, Bruce Conforth would be most likely to agree that

A. false legends should not replace actual facts

B. Robert Johnson should not have lied about selling his soul
C. blues figures tried to make themselves more mysterious
D. Robert Johnson’s music is overrated because of his myth