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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Which is NOT one of the qualities of Anglo-Saxons Mencken points to in Chapter 10?
(a) Self-congratulatory.
(b) Rational and free of superstition.
(c) Yearning to constantly improve.
(d) Pure blooded.

2. What or who rules the American South?
(a) An aristocratic class.
(b) A love for automobiles and technology.
(c) Secular liberals.
(d) Baptist and Methodist "barbarism".

3. What kind of men has history been written by, to date?
(a) Men more interested in power than factual accuracy.
(b) Third-rate, inferior men.
(c) The most intelligent men, and this is why history cannot be understood by most.
(d) Noble men of purpose.

4. 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.

5. What group of people has been "overestimated" throughout the course of human history?
(a) Russians.
(b) Greeks.
(c) Barbarians.
(d) Egyptians.

6. Before democracy came to be, what did people believe this system of government to be?
(a) It was such a foreign concept, no one could really imagine it.
(b) A heavenly form of government.
(c) They believed democracy was just another form of dictatorship.
(d) A wretched form of government that should not come to pass.

7. 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) Very few men are virtuous.
(c) Everyone is virtuous, it's just a matter of uncovering it.
(d) Virtue is a nonsense term, because everything is relative.

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

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

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

11. What is Mencken's opinion of the belief that man has a soul, according to Chapter 1?
(a) The notion of a soul is simple, but still very relevant today.
(b) The notion of a soul is humanity's one bright spot.
(c) The notion of a soul has led to unprecedented successes in philosophy and elsewhere.
(d) The notion of a soul has failed to result in more people acting like God.

12. How does Mencken describe Oliver Wendell Holmes?
(a) He was a completely inept United States Senator.
(b) He was a tool of conservative fuddy-duddies.
(c) He was a brilliant reasoner.
(d) He was a tool of liberal elites.

13. What is Mencken's belief about morality?
(a) Morality is unnecessary.
(b) Morality is necessary.
(c) Morality is reserved only for the aristocracy.
(d) Morality is a made-up concept that doesn't exist.

14. 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.

15. Which is NOT one of the reasons Mencken praises George Washington?
(a) He scorned foreign entanglements.
(b) He was a pious man.
(c) He ignored the private morals of his neighbors.
(d) He enjoyed whiskey.

Short Answer Questions

1. What "call" does Mencken make to America's poets in Chapter 7?

2. Who derives several advantages from marriage?

3. What does the "believer" type of person inevitably do?

4. What is the problem with trying to punishment a government for not working well?

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

(see the answer keys)

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