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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. What does the "believer" type of person inevitably do?
(a) Annoys the company he or she is with.
(b) Maintains a faith in the improbable.
(c) Betrays friends as well as lovers.
(d) Thinks they are better than everyone.

2. What was the goal of early democratists?
(a) Philosophical frameworks to support democracy.
(b) Definitions of concepts like truth and beauty.
(c) Concrete material gains.
(d) The overthrow of the wealthy.

3. What is the "altruist" motivated by?
(a) A divine inspiration.
(b) Out and out greed.
(c) A selfish sense of self-worth.
(d) Being uncomfortable with unhappy people around him or her.

4. What kind of sense of right and wrong do children have?
(a) Children are born without a sense of right and wrong, and society imposes this sense upon them.
(b) Children are born without a sense of right and wrong, but they develop it without society's interference.
(c) Children are born with a sense of right and wrong, which is then corrupted by society.
(d) Children are born with a sense of right and wrong, and they carry this into adulthood.

5. What does Mencken believe about the universality of morality?
(a) Morality is universal, and differences between moral systems are small.
(b) Morality is specific to a particular individual.
(c) Morality depends upon the language one speaks.
(d) Morality is specific to regions of the world.

Short Answer Questions

1. What is Man's one unique characteristic, per Chapter 1?

2. What "call" does Mencken make to America's poets in Chapter 7?

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

4. Who rules American culture, according to Chapter 10?

5. What is Mencken's opinion about the variety of political systems?

(see the answer key)

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