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This quiz consists of 5 multiple choice and 5 short answer questions through 45-49.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Complete the following aphorism found in "Sententiae": "Democracy is..."
(a) "...the theory that the common people know what they want, and deserve to get it good and hard."
(b) "...the weapon waved by the fairer sex."
(c) "...the application of love to money. Everybody's love."
(d) "...the Declaration of Independence after a trip to the dentist for a full root canal."

2. What did Mencken conclude in his examination of rulings in "Mr. Justice Holmes"?
(a) Justice Holmes ruled too often for rabble-rousers, and not often enough for the aristocracy.
(b) Justice Holmes rendered fantastically bizarre rulings, and should be impeached.
(c) Mencken slyly suggests Holmes should tuck chickens under his arms because of his chicken-like cowardice.
(d) Justice Holmes ruled too often in favor of the powers that be, rather than the people.

3. What was the art discussed in "The Comedian"?
(a) Television situational comedy.
(b) Stage acting.
(c) Pantomime.
(d) Street musicianship.

4. What might Mencken say was Grover Cleveland's defining trait?
(a) Political acumen.
(b) Intelligence.
(c) A lust for life.
(d) Stubbornness.

5. What did Mencken think about Woodrow Wilson's biography of George Washington?
(a) It was poorly written and factually inaccurate.
(b) He was relieved that someone finally showed George Washington for who he really was.
(c) The biography had such a small print run as to be insignificant.
(d) "Woodrow Wilson couldn't shine George Washington's shoes."

Short Answer Questions

1. What was Roosevelt's strategy at the Democratic National Convention of 1932?

2. According to Mencken, how might Calvin Coolidge had handled the Great Depression?

3. What does Mencken state about the literary influence(s) of Theodore Dreiser?

4. Which decade, according to the author, was Mencken at his best?

5. What was "lamentable" about the North beating the South in the Civil War, according to Mencken?

(see the answer key)

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