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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What is the BEST term to use for Mencken's characterization of American millionaires?
(a) Idiots.
(b) Saints.
(c) Aristocrats.
(d) Exciting.

2. A man's taste in poetry is a reflection of what?
(a) His sense of romance.
(b) His inner cravings.
(c) His intelligence.
(d) His love of life.

3. Who does Mencken call "the national ideal of a literary character"?
(a) Ring Lardner.
(b) Ambrose Bierce.
(c) Joseph Conrad.
(d) William Dean Howells.

4. How do bad artists hide their shortcomings?
(a) Bad artists are unable to hide their shortcomings; they are always found out.
(b) By creating overblown interpretations of their art.
(c) By coming up with new formulas for art.
(d) By showing their art to only a select, friendly few.

5. What action taken by Anthony Comstock does Mencken take issue with?
(a) Spreading a new strain of Methodist religion.
(b) Editing his articles overmuch at the Baltimore Sun.
(c) Trying to censor book material.
(d) Too quickly embracing new technology like the telephone.

6. What American book does Mencken call one of history's great masterpieces?
(a) The House of Mirth.
(b) The Scarlet Letter.
(c) Huckleberry Finn.
(d) Last of the Mohicans.

7. How does Mencken react to a religious ceremony inside a basilica, as he recounts in Chapter 15?
(a) With joy.
(b) With intellectual curiosity.
(c) With disgust.
(d) With indifference.

8. In Chapter 15, Mencken expresses surprise that no one has violated the tomb of which man?
(a) Oliver Wendell Holmes.
(b) George Washington.
(c) Charles Joseph Bonaparte.
(d) Grover Cleveland.

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

10. What two types of poetry does Mencken believe are the only viable ones?
(a) Poetry that tells a story and poetry that reveals essential truths.
(b) Musical poetry and poetry of false ideas.
(c) Poetry of false ideas and poetry that tells a story.
(d) Musical poetry and poetry that rhymes.

11. What point does Mencken make by bringing up an 84-year-old man he knew in Chapter 21?
(a) Illness makes a person stronger.
(b) The older a person gets, the crankier they get.
(c) Age is nothing but a number.
(d) A man's innate constitution may determine longevity more than illness.

12. What two types of rich people does Mencken see in America?
(a) Investors in real estate and investors in bonds.
(b) Money wasters and those who purchase public esteem.
(c) Noble heroes and wicked villains.
(d) Slave masters and slaves.

13. What unusual stance does Mencken take in regards to disease?
(a) Diseases should not be treated with medicine.
(b) All diseases are beneficial, as they help to thin human populations.
(c) Some diseases actually improve lives.
(d) Religion is sufficient to address disease.

14. In Chapter 23, Mencken attends a church service during the Scopes Monkey Trial. What is his impression of that service?
(a) He is outraged that they did not invite William Jennings Bryan.
(b) He is shocked by its barbarism.
(c) He is pleased by its sense of decorum.
(d) He is impressed with the sermon of the preacher.

15. Which contemporary author does Mencken compare to Edgar Allan Poe because of his taste for the macabre?
(a) Hamlin Garland.
(b) Ring Lardner.
(c) James Huneker.
(d) Ambrose Bierce.

Short Answer Questions

1. Who was the father of the American short story?

2. How does Mencken characterize the emotional state of most schoolboys?

3. Why is music difficult as a trade?

4. What year did the New Deal programs begin?

5. Which is NOT one of the qualities of rich people, as described by Mencken?

(see the answer keys)

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