View a FREE sample

This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Which is the best style of architecture, according to Mencken?
(a) Art Nouveau.
(b) Modernism.
(c) Futurism.
(d) English Eighteenth Century.

2. What was Mencken's general opinion of religion at the end of "Holy Writ"?
(a) Religion is a great good, and responsible for much of what is good in civilization.
(b) Religion is a pretty silly business.
(c) Religion is evil, and should be outlawed.
(d) Religion is valuable, but flawed.

3. Who did Mencken NOT count among the "crackpots" present in "The Wallace Paranoia"?
(a) Communists.
(b) Bible-belt evangelists.
(c) Career political operatives.
(d) Psychopaths.

4. What was Calvin Coolidge's chief trait, according to Mencken?
(a) "Self-induced narcolepsy."
(b) "A hide as tough as a rhinoceros, and a horn to match."
(c) "A great appetite for jams and jellies."
(d) "A terrific ability to arrive at the wrong place, but at the right time."

5. How was Mencken able to get a taxi driver to drive him to a speakeasy in Pennsylvania?
(a) He gave the driver a ten dollar bill.
(b) He threatened the driver with jail time.
(c) He showed the driver the musical score from a Bach concert.
(d) He agreed to write an article about the driver.

6. Why might the Anglo-Saxon race have entered into the Spanish-American war, according to Mencken?
(a) The war protected vital interests in the Caribbean.
(b) They were courageous and foolhardy.
(c) It was a war they were sure to win.
(d) They knew they could seize the Spanish crown.

7. What was NOT a feature of chiropractors, according to "Chiropractic"?
(a) They were quacks.
(b) They had a good deal of anatomical knowledge.
(c) They were retired baseball players or piano movers.
(d) They did no good, and may in fact cause harm.

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

9. Why, according to Mencken, do virtuous people end up sinning the worst?
(a) To be "virtuous" is a lie: the virtuous are among the most sinful among us.
(b) Virtuous people give of themselves so much, they are empty inside.
(c) The virtuous don't know how to handle sin, and thus get carried away.
(d) Virtuous people do difficult work, and this work drives them insane.

10. What was Roosevelt's strategy at the Democratic National Convention of 1932?
(a) Roosevelt had a comic struggle to obtain the highest podium, so he might look the tallest.
(b) He wished to bribe key officials for the nomination.
(c) He wished to delay as much as possible, and honor every minor parliamentary procedure.
(d) He wished to rush motions through and bypass parliamentary procedures.

11. Which of the following is a trait of the Anglo-Saxon race, per "The Anglo-Saxon"?
(a) Bravery.
(b) Cultural superiority.
(c) Weak will.
(d) Intelligence.

12. What criticism did Mencken have for a book filled with sayings and writings about death?
(a) The book failed to include the work of Theodore Dreiser.
(b) The book had three quotations attributed to the contemptible Oliver Wendell Holmes.
(c) The book failed to mention music at all.
(d) The book had nothing from the ancient Greeks.

13. What would best describe Mencken's attitude toward Oliver Wendell Holmes?
(a) He was a Liberal hero in name only.
(b) He was a fantastic advocate of progressive causes.
(c) He was a quack chiropractor.
(d) His rulings were thoroughly corrupt.

14. What was Mencken's attitude toward Grover Cleveland?
(a) Great admiration.
(b) Enjoyment at his suffering.
(c) Contempt for his policies.
(d) Smug pity.

15. Who was Mencken referring to with the title, "A Good Man in a Bad Trade"?
(a) Woodrow Wilson.
(b) A chiropractor.
(c) Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
(d) Grover Cleveland.

Short Answer Questions

1. What was the nature of the analogy Mencken uses involving Oliver Wendell Holmes, a hammer, and a feather?

2. Which of the following might Mencken say about Calvin Coolidge?

3. What is wrong, in Mencken's opinion, with most artists' depictions of death?

4. According to Mencken, what if there had not been a Civil War in the United States?

5. What might Mencken say about a writer's sense of beauty?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 868 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample