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This quiz consists of 5 multiple choice and 5 short answer questions through Chapter 9, Democracy, Chapter 10, Americans.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. In Chapter 7, Mencken notes that there are too few books written about what subject?
(a) Death.
(b) Women.
(c) Taxes.
(d) True crime.

2. What kind of men does a democracy produce?
(a) Depressing men full of nostalgia.
(b) Noble, confident men who do not envy others.
(c) Stupid men who can barely master the multiplication tables.
(d) Energetic men with too much time on their hands.

3. Why is the "pretty man" hated?
(a) The pretty man is almost universally also very dumb.
(b) Women care less for beauty than men do.
(c) The pretty man reminds us of all of our own faults.
(d) Women are jealous of pretty men.

4. What is the fundamental flaw of the democratic style of government?
(a) Over time, democracy resembles monarchy.
(b) The people are not competent to govern themselves.
(c) There are simply too many intelligent people to decide between.
(d) Voting systems can never be 100% accurate.

5. What "call" does Mencken make to America's poets in Chapter 7?
(a) He wishes them to speak upon the beauty of the female figure.
(b) He wishes them to burn all of their poems and drown themselves.
(c) He wishes them to write a funeral service for the damned.
(d) He wishes them to rewrite Ode to a Grecian Urn.

Short Answer Questions

1. What is the "average man's" opinion of government?

2. Who is the "ideal citizen of Christendom" according to Chapter 3?

3. What is the chief problem with political theorists?

4. What is Mencken's opinion of the belief that man has a soul, according to Chapter 1?

5. What is the proper function of punishment for crimes?

(see the answer key)

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