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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 does democracy ruin, according to Mencken?
(a) The means of production.
(b) Wealth.
(c) Individual greatness.
(d) Common sense.

2. What kind of sense of right and wrong do children have?
(a) Children are born with a sense of right and wrong, and they carry this into adulthood.
(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 without a sense of right and wrong, and society imposes this sense upon them.

3. What is the crux of Mr. Ayres' philosophical argument that Mencken criticizes?
(a) Evolution is a hoax.
(b) Language determines behavior and thought patterns.
(c) Causality is an illusion.
(d) Science cannot account for morality.

4. How does Mencken describe Oliver Wendell Holmes?
(a) He was a tool of conservative fuddy-duddies.
(b) He was a tool of liberal elites.
(c) He was a completely inept United States Senator.
(d) He was a brilliant reasoner.

5. Which is NOT one of Mencken's view of humankind as expressed in Chapter 1?
(a) Man is the center of the universe, and rightly so.
(b) Man is the product of random and meaningless processes.
(c) Man is full of errors.
(d) Man is prone to believe in ridiculous things.

Short Answer Questions

1. What is Mencken's belief about the concept of sin?

2. Why does Mencken criticize the American Medical Association?

3. What is the fundamental flaw of the democratic style of government?

4. Which is NOT one of the negative effects Mencken mentions in regards to Prohibition?

5. What was the goal of early democratists?

(see the answer key)

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