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This quiz consists of 5 multiple choice and 5 short answer questions through Chapter 29, Buffooneries, Chapter 30, Sententiae, Chapter 31, Appendix.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Why is Mencken unable to embrace democratic political theory, as he himself states it in Chapter 9?
(a) He is incapable of being envious of others.
(b) He is not poor, and so cannot see democracy's benefits.
(c) He is simply too cultured and sophisticated.
(d) He is morally superior to democrats.

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

3. Who was the attorney on the side of the prosecution in the Scopes Monkey Trial?
(a) Andrew Still.
(b) Theodore Veblen.
(c) Clarence Darrow.
(d) William Jennings Bryan.

4. Which famous document does Mencken translate into plain American English in Chapter 29?
(a) The Declaration of Independence.
(b) The Magna Carta.
(c) The Constitution.
(d) Genesis in the Bible.

5. What was Mencken's opinion of Kaiser Wilhelm?
(a) He loathed him, and did not side with him.
(b) He admired him and sided with him.
(c) He admired him, but did not side with him.
(d) He loathed him, but sided with him.

Short Answer Questions

1. Which classical composer could not "write for the mob"?

2. What is "one of the most valuable human possessions" according to Mencken in Chapter 16?

3. Who is the "ideal citizen of Christendom" according to Chapter 3?

4. What is Mencken's view of contemporary psychological science?

5. What kind of test does Mencken believe teachers should have to pass prior to teaching?

(see the answer key)

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