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This quiz consists of 5 multiple choice and 5 short answer questions through Chapter 23, Souvenirs of a Journalist, Chapter 24, Criticism.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What is the chief problem with political theorists?
(a) They have little sense of history.
(b) They are too antagonistic to the current political system.
(c) They attempt to dignify the political order of their day.
(d) They hate politics in general.

2. In Chapter 15, Mencken expresses surprise that no one has violated the tomb of which man?
(a) George Washington.
(b) Oliver Wendell Holmes.
(c) Charles Joseph Bonaparte.
(d) Grover Cleveland.

3. What is "one of the most valuable human possessions" according to Mencken in Chapter 16?
(a) The ability to do simple math.
(b) Spatial awareness.
(c) Dignity.
(d) The reputation of being rich.

4. What was Roosevelt's team of political advisers popularly called?
(a) The Brain Trust.
(b) Roosevelt's Riveters.
(c) The Brooklyn Thirteen.
(d) The Washington Eggheads.

5. What quality makes for the best literary critic, according to Chapter 24?
(a) The goal to create a work of art.
(b) Accuracy and a need to refute error.
(c) Advancing a personal agenda or doctrine.
(d) Adhering to a specific philosophical system.

Short Answer Questions

1. How does Mencken define government?

2. Why might "reflective and skeptical men" refrain from suicide?

3. What year did the New Deal programs begin?

4. In Chapter 7, Mencken notes that there are too few books written about what subject?

5. In Chapter 23, Mencken attends a church service during the Scopes Monkey Trial. What is his impression of that service?

(see the answer key)

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