View a FREE sample

This quiz consists of 5 multiple choice and 5 short answer questions through Chapter 3.1 | Chapter 3.2.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What is the principal reason Mencken states that the English language has not greatly diverged since the foundation of the United States of America?
(a) Solidarity of higher education.
(b) Transatlantic communication.
(c) Transatlantic travel.
(d) American neo-classical tastes.

2. Which European language has exerted the most influence on the American language?
(a) German.
(b) French.
(c) Italian.
(d) Spanish.

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

4. According to Benjamin Franklin, what was roughly the population of the colonies in 1751?
(a) 500,000
(b) 1,000,000
(c) 50,000,000
(d) 10,000,000

5. How many classifications of Americanisms does Gilbert M. Tucker provide in 1921?
(a) Two.
(b) Thirteen.
(c) Twenty.
(d) Twelve.

Short Answer Questions

1. According to the tale spread by William Gifford, what language was supposed to be substituted for English during the Revolutionary War?

2. What is the second characteristic that Mencken attributes to American English in Chapter 1.5?

3. Which letter of the alphabet do Americans differ in pronunciation from other English-speaking countries?

4. Which is the first factor that Mencken identifies as an immediate impediment to the growth of the American language in Chapter 3.1?

5. What does John S. Farmer describe the Western vernacular as being?

(see the answer key)

This section contains 228 words (approx. 1 page at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample