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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

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

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

3. What aspect of Lincoln's historical persona does Mencken doubt, or at least question?
(a) His reputation for being a great orator.
(b) His pragmatic, practical approach to political problems.
(c) His status as an outsider and a "dark horse."
(d) His adherence to Christianity.

4. Which Southern state does Mencken particularly mourn in his obituary on the American South?
(a) Georgia.
(b) Louisiana.
(c) Virginia.
(d) Texas.

5. What kind of sense of right and wrong do children have?
(a) Children are born without a sense of right and wrong, but they develop it without society's interference.
(b) Children are born without a sense of right and wrong, and society imposes this sense upon them.
(c) Children are born with a sense of right and wrong, which is then corrupted by society.
(d) Children are born with a sense of right and wrong, and they carry this into adulthood.

Short Answer Questions

1. What is the consequence of someone believing in God, according to Mencken in Chapter 1?

2. Why is the culture of the United States deficient, according to Chapter 10?

3. New England owes much of its history to what group of people?

4. What is Mencken's opinion of original Christians?

5. What does democracy ruin, according to Mencken?

Short Essay Questions

1. Summarize Mencken's appraisal of Abraham Lincoln.

2. What is Mencken's opinion of government? What is the role of government? Is one system of government preferable to another?

3. What effect did the Civil War have on the American South, and why was this conflict so disastrous to Mencken from a cultural standpoint?

4. Discuss Mencken's history of democracy. Before it arrived, what did people think of democracy? How was it conceived? How did it evolve?

5. In Chapter 1, what comparison does Mencken make between man and animal? Who is "superior"?

6. Summarize Mencken's appraisal of William Jennings Bryan. How is Mencken's opinion related to the Scopes Monkey Trial?

7. What is Mencken's view of punishment for crime? What is the function of punishment?

8. What is the origin of morality according to Mencken?

9. Describe Mencken's thought experiment, in which he imagines if the Confederacy had won the Civil War.

10. What is the degree of women's "civility" according to Mencken? How does emotion factor in to civility?

(see the answer keys)

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