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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. Who did the Black Plague mostly kill off, according to Mencken?
(a) Monarchs of low intelligence.
(b) Proletarians of high intelligence.
(c) Proletarians of low intelligence.
(d) Monarchs of high intelligence.

2. What is the subject of Chapter 7?
(a) Death.
(b) Quackery.
(c) Taxes.
(d) Classical composers.

3. What is Mencken's hope for democracy?
(a) Mencken has absolutely no hope for democracy.
(b) It will finally deliver much-needed assistance to the poor.
(c) It is a self-limiting disease.
(d) It may lead to monarchy someday.

4. What aspect of Lincoln's historical persona does Mencken doubt, or at least question?
(a) His reputation for being a great orator.
(b) His adherence to Christianity.
(c) His pragmatic, practical approach to political problems.
(d) His status as an outsider and a "dark horse."

5. What action taken by Anthony Comstock does Mencken take issue with?
(a) Editing his articles overmuch at the Baltimore Sun.
(b) Trying to censor book material.
(c) Spreading a new strain of Methodist religion.
(d) Too quickly embracing new technology like the telephone.

Short Answer Questions

1. Why does Mencken criticize the American Medical Association?

2. How does Mencken feel about the overall capacity for virtue in the human race?

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

4. What is Mencken's opinion of romantic love?

5. What was the most damning effect of the Civil War, in regard to the South?

(see the answer key)

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