The Vintage Mencken Test | Mid-Book Test - Hard

This set of Lesson Plans consists of approximately 154 pages of tests, essay questions, lessons, and other teaching materials.

The Vintage Mencken Test | Mid-Book Test - Hard

This set of Lesson Plans consists of approximately 154 pages of tests, essay questions, lessons, and other teaching materials.
Buy The Vintage Mencken Lesson Plans
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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What is a man's usual response to beauty?

2. Which is NOT a reason Mencken gives for admiring Theodore Dreiser?

3. In which city did Mencken grow up?

4. According to "Quid Est Veritas?," what kind of religion professes to know God exactly and completely?

5. According to Mencken, what was the Union fighting for in the Civil War?

Short Essay Questions

1. What was the nature of Mencken's first memory, as described in "Introduction to the Universe"?

2. What was Mencken's remedy for curing the ills of modern religions?

3. Why did Mencken believe it was advantageous for him to have not attended college?

4. What was the chief problem of a Baltimore summer, according to Mencken in "The Baltimore of the Eighties"?

5. According to Mencken, Theodore Dreiser had what emotional effect on the reader?

6. Instead of military generals, who did Mencken wish to award medals to in "Star-Spangled Man"?

7. What was the nature of Mencken's first-ever printed article?

8. Why did Mencken criticize Woodrow Wilson?

9. What is democracy's aim, in "A Blind Spot"? What is a crime in the eyes of democracy?

10. What circumstances drove Mencken away from attending the Y. M. C. A.?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

A modern controversy swirled around the issue of whether or not Mencken was a racist.

A) What might the article "Anglo-Saxon" tell us about settling the issue of Mencken's racism?

B) What might the article "The Calamity of Appomattox" tell us about settling the issue of Mencken's racism?

C) How does Mencken's frequent sarcasm and tongue-in-cheek tone complicate this controversy?

Essay Topic 2

Abraham Lincoln was the subject of a long essay. Discuss the logic and structure of Mencken's argument in regards to Abraham Lincoln. What premise does Mencken assume? What is his thesis? What evidence does he use to support his thesis, and what logic does he employ?

Essay Topic 3

Articles such as "Theodore Dreiser" and "Masters of Tone" present Mencken the art critic.

A) What can Mencken's criticisms reveal about his theory of art? Cite specific examples.

B) What can Mencken's criticisms reveal about his own preferences? Can art be objectively excellent, or does it always depend upon the viewer/spectator?

(see the answer keys)

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