View a FREE sample

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 is Mencken's belief about the concept of sin?
(a) Sin is a made-up term, and does not really exist.
(b) Sin is the reason why children are born.
(c) Sin is just another word for good deed; it's all relative.
(d) Sin is real, and exists all around us.

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

3. Which president did Charles Joseph Bonaparte work for?
(a) Warren G. Harding.
(b) Woodrow Wilson.
(c) Grover Cleveland.
(d) Theodore Roosevelt.

4. What is Mencken's opinion of the American South?
(a) He believes that southerners are intellectually superior to northerners, but rarely show it.
(b) He loathes it and believes it to be a crude and uncultured place.
(c) He thinks highly of it because of its emphasis on grassroots values.
(d) He thinks it is a spiritually enlightened place.

5. How does Mencken feel about the overall capacity for virtue in the human race?
(a) Virtue is a nonsense term, because everything is relative.
(b) Most people are virtuous, but a few people spoil it for everyone.
(c) Very few men are virtuous.
(d) Everyone is virtuous, it's just a matter of uncovering it.

Short Answer Questions

1. Mencken sees that too often any discussion of suicide is rooted in what incorrect notion?

2. Why does the topic of "disease" give pathologists pause?

3. What is Mencken's central critique for socialism?

4. What does Mencken believe is the proper focus of psychology?

5. How do rich people "buy public esteem" according to Mencken?

(see the answer key)

This section contains 407 words (approx. 2 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample