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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 kind of promises do politicians make?
(a) Ones they have no intention of fulfilling.
(b) Ones they have polled voters about.
(c) Ones they can fulfill.
(d) Ones they cannot deliver.

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

3. In "female novels," how are males portrayed according to Mencken?
(a) As "charlatans."
(b) As "heartthrobs."
(c) As "boobs."
(d) As "he-men."

4. What kind of men has history been written by, to date?
(a) Third-rate, inferior men.
(b) Men more interested in power than factual accuracy.
(c) The most intelligent men, and this is why history cannot be understood by most.
(d) Noble men of purpose.

5. What is the proper function of punishment for crimes?
(a) To create a sense of false dignity in society.
(b) As a deterrent only.
(c) As a deterrent, but also more.
(d) As a mere incentivizing device.

Short Answer Questions

1. What is Mencken's assessment of Abraham Lincoln?

2. What is the relationship between Anglo-Saxons and civilization?

3. What was "unusual" about Mr. Gray?

4. Mencken compares Theodore Roosevelt's political ideas to which other politician's?

5. Why is Mencken unable to embrace democratic political theory, as he himself states it in Chapter 9?

(see the answer key)

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