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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What aspect of human nature fuels the democratic system of government?
(a) Envy.
(b) Murderous violence.
(c) Grace.
(d) Charity.

2. What is the relationship between Anglo-Saxons and civilization?
(a) Anglo-Saxons created civilization, and are its last bastion of hope.
(b) Anglo-Saxons are the most civilized of all white people.
(c) Anglo-Saxons choose to live outside civilization because they are morally superior.
(d) Anglo-Saxons are the least civilized of all white people.

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

4. Why did England experience particular difficulties in World War I according to Mencken?
(a) It made secret pacts it could not honor.
(b) It ran out of money.
(c) It took the wrong side.
(d) It ignored the psychological aspect of warfare.

5. Mencken compares Theodore Roosevelt's political ideas to which other politician's?
(a) The United State's William Jennings Bryan.
(b) England's Queen.
(c) Germany's Kaiser.
(d) A Japanese feudal lord.

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

7. Which is NOT one of the qualities Mencken ascribes to William Jennings Bryan?
(a) Insanity.
(b) Preference to keep in the company of intellectuals.
(c) Charlatanism.
(d) Lack of dignity.

8. At what event did Mencken first personally encounter William Jennings Bryan?
(a) The funeral of Grover Cleveland.
(b) The Scopes Monkey trial.
(c) Bryan's congressional trial for corruption.
(d) The 1912 Democratic National Convention.

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

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

11. What does the "romantic" type of person inevitably do?
(a) Makes light of serious situations.
(b) Befriends everyone they meet.
(c) Betrays.
(d) Exaggerates.

12. What comparison does Mencken make between man and animal in Chapter 1?
(a) Man in every way has faculties that are superior to animals.
(b) The only thing man cannot do that animal can is fly.
(c) Many animals have superior faculties to man.
(d) The faculties of animal and man precisely balance when taken as a whole.

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

14. What do most women think of their husbands according to Mencken?
(a) Women love and respect their husbands.
(b) Women pity their husbands and consider them asses.
(c) Women fear and loathe their husbands.
(d) Women are indifferent to their husbands and use them as mere tools.

15. What is the consequence of someone believing in God, according to Mencken in Chapter 1?
(a) That person must pray on a daily basis.
(b) That person must ascribe all of Man's faults to God as well.
(c) That person must be prepared to suffer eternal damnation for believing in the wrong god.
(d) That person must make offerings to his or her God.

Short Answer Questions

1. What does Mencken NOT believe about the possibility for morality to change over time?

2. What or who rules the American South?

3. What is Mencken's hope for democracy?

4. What is the fundamental flaw of the democratic style of government?

5. In "female novels," how are males portrayed according to Mencken?

(see the answer keys)

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