View a FREE sample

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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Which classical composer could not "write for the mob"?
(a) Schubert.
(b) Brahms.
(c) Beethoven.
(d) Strauss.

2. What device does Mencken call a "boon to bores"?
(a) Thermostat.
(b) Radio.
(c) Elevator.
(d) Telephone.

3. Who wrote Parsifal?
(a) Beethoven.
(b) Strauss.
(c) Schubert.
(d) Wagner.

4. Which is NOT one of the features of the typical school day, as envisioned by Mencken?
(a) For stimulation, schoolboys try to talk to other schoolboys and only get punished for it.
(b) Schoolboys deal with adults (teachers) they have great respect for.
(c) The school day is boring and sad.
(d) Learning is a largely automatic process.

5. Mencken has what criticism for "new poets"?
(a) They are too romantic and instinctive.
(b) They are too clever for their own good.
(c) They are too musical.
(d) They are too cerebral and scientific.

6. According to Mencken, how will "anyone who appreciates aural beauty" regard opera?
(a) Obnoxious.
(b) Beautiful.
(c) Inspirational.
(d) Absurd.

7. Which is NOT one of the qualities of rich people, as described by Mencken?
(a) They engage in exciting, risky ventures.
(b) Many buy public esteem.
(c) They buy boring, unoriginal assets.
(d) They are largely swindlers.

8. Writers "who cannot write" write in what style?
(a) Poetry.
(b) Dialogues.
(c) Song lyrics.
(d) Prose.

9. What was Roosevelt's team of political advisers popularly called?
(a) The Brain Trust.
(b) Roosevelt's Riveters.
(c) The Washington Eggheads.
(d) The Brooklyn Thirteen.

10. In "Utopian Flights," how does Mencken believe legislators should be chosen?
(a) At random, not unlike jurors.
(b) By a simple popular vote.
(c) By a committee of intellectuals.
(d) By the elected president.

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

12. What year did the New Deal programs begin?
(a) 1939.
(b) 1945.
(c) 1919.
(d) 1933.

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

14. According to Chapter 16, which political system is responsible for the majority of civilization as we know it?
(a) Capitalism.
(b) Dictatorship.
(c) Socialism.
(d) Oligarchy.

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

Short Answer Questions

1. Why does Mencken praise doctors in Chapter 16?

2. Mencken reports on a boxing with which famed boxer?

3. Who wrote Sextet for Strings, Opus 18, which Mencken greatly praises?

4. Who does Mencken consider the greatest classical composer?

5. What do men become once they accumulate wealth?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 450 words (approx. 2 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample