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This quiz consists of 5 multiple choice and 5 short answer questions through Chapter 3.5 | Chapter 4.1.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Who proposed a generally accepted nomenclature for currency in 1785?
(a) Gouverneur Morris.
(b) Noah Webster.
(c) Richard Grant White.
(d) Thomas Jefferson.

2. According to Mencken, what did the first generations born in the New World value as a virtue over enterprise and resourcefulness?
(a) Courage.
(b) Ingenuity.
(c) Niceness.
(d) Temperance.

3. Which Founding Father is said to have sought to establish a new American alphabet?
(a) Thomas Jefferson.
(b) John Hancock.
(c) Benjamin Franklin.
(d) George Washington.

4. To what continent does Mencken attribute the acknowledgment of the differences between American and British English?
(a) Asia.
(b) North America.
(c) Europe.
(d) South America.

5. From what language does the English word "moose" come?
(a) Cherokee.
(b) English.
(c) Italian.
(d) Algonquin.

Short Answer Questions

1. According to the report of Beverley, what did a group of soldiers turn into after eating some Jimson Weed?

2. What word did Webster argue should have its vowel sound changed to "ee" instead of "eh"?

3. What term did John Witherspoon coin, framing it within the context of vulgarity?

4. According to Mencken at the beginning of Chapter 1.3, what do the novelists and newspapermen on either side of the Atlantic ocean delight in?

5. Which defender of Americanisms cited by Mencken in Chapter 1.3 states that "Language is made by the people"?

(see the answer key)

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