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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

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

2. What is the chief problem with political theorists?
(a) They have little sense of history.
(b) They hate politics in general.
(c) They are too antagonistic to the current political system.
(d) They attempt to dignify the political order of their day.

3. Who is the "ideal citizen of Christendom" according to Chapter 3?
(a) Young men drained of passion.
(b) Young men full of passion.
(c) An emotionally cold woman.
(d) The hapless hero of a female novel.

4. Why is the "pretty man" hated?
(a) The pretty man is almost universally also very dumb.
(b) Women care less for beauty than men do.
(c) Women are jealous of pretty men.
(d) The pretty man reminds us of all of our own faults.

5. What does Mencken see as the problem with contemporary Protestantism?
(a) Protestants have forgotten the teachings of Jesus Christ.
(b) All modern Protestants are wishy-washy centrists.
(c) Protestants suffer from a Jewish weakness for poetry.
(d) There are few, sensible, centrist Protestants left.

6. Per Chapter 2, what kind of person has Mencken never met?
(a) A quack with a conscience.
(b) An altruist who actually did good for anybody.
(c) A metaphysician who was intellectually curious.
(d) A moral man that was honorable.

7. Which politician does Mencken refer to as "a good man in a bad trade"?
(a) Abraham Lincoln.
(b) William Jennings Bryan.
(c) Grover Cleveland.
(d) George Washington.

8. What is Mencken's opinion of romantic love?
(a) It is a dangerous farce.
(b) It is a great and noble thing.
(c) It benefits men rather than women.
(d) Men must only marry for romantic love, and not for other considerations.

9. What does the "metaphysical" type of person inevitably do?
(a) Tips their hat for no reason.
(b) Begs for spare change.
(c) Demands to know what you mean, even when it is obvious.
(d) Becomes paralyzed with fear over the enormity of the universe.

10. Which is NOT one of the features Mencken imagines for the Confederacy, had it survived the Civil War?
(a) It would never have abolished slavery.
(b) It would be a wealthier place.
(c) It would be a more cultured place.
(d) It would have a strong aristocracy in place.

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

12. What is Man's one unique characteristic, per Chapter 1?
(a) The ability to betray.
(b) Romantic feeling.
(c) Imagination.
(d) Optimism.

13. What is the problem with trying to punishment a government for not working well?
(a) Voting is usually rigged.
(b) Punishing the government will lead to revenge tactics.
(c) The government itself is in control of the means of punishment.
(d) There are too many bureaucracies and it is impossible to determine who to punish.

14. Privately, politicians are what kind of people?
(a) Criminals.
(b) Charming individuals.
(c) Exceedingly eccentric.
(d) Lying wretches.

15. 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 full of errors.
(c) Man is the product of random and meaningless processes.
(d) Man is prone to believe in ridiculous things.

Short Answer Questions

1. What effect has intermarriage had on the American South?

2. What is the "altruist" motivated by?

3. What is Mencken's opinion of the American South?

4. How does Mencken describe President Coolidge?

5. Why does Mencken admire John D. Rockefeller?

(see the answer keys)

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