View a FREE sample

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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. 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.

2. Who wrote the Viennese Waltz?
(a) Brahms.
(b) Strauss.
(c) Beethoven.
(d) Schubert.

3. Which is the "most democratic" of art forms according to Mencken?
(a) Drama.
(b) Poetry.
(c) Music.
(d) Sculpture.

4. What is the crux of Mr. Ayres' philosophical argument that Mencken criticizes?
(a) Science cannot account for morality.
(b) Language determines behavior and thought patterns.
(c) Causality is an illusion.
(d) Evolution is a hoax.

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

Short Answer Questions

1. Which contemporary author does Mencken compare to Edgar Allan Poe because of his taste for the macabre?

2. Mencken begins Chapter 25 with a philosophical discussion of what phenomenon?

3. In the boxing match Mencken reports on in Chapter 23, why do most want the favorite boxer to lose?

4. In Chapter 23, Mencken attends a church service during the Scopes Monkey Trial. What is his impression of that service?

5. What BEST characterizes Mencken's view of the townspeople involved in the Scopes Monkey Trial?

Short Essay Questions

1. What memorable position does Mencken take on opera?

2. Summarize Mencken's view of Ludwig van Beethoven.

3. Summarize Mencken's views on inspiration, as recounted in Chapter 25.

4. What opinion does Mencken render about the Black Plague that decimated Europe in the Middle Ages?

5. What is Mencken's opinion of the music of Johann Strauss? Why wasn't Strauss' music more well-received in America?

6. Why does Mencken make mention of Charles Joseph Bonaparte? Who was Bonaparte, and what was Mencken's opinion of him?

7. What should poetry ideally be, according to Mencken? What makes for a good poem? And how does taste in poetry reflect upon a person's qualities?

8. In "Utopian Flights," how does Mencken suggest that legislators be chosen? What benefits would this method have, in his opinion?

9. What is Mencken's opinion of the teaching profession? How does he compare and contrast teaching styles of his schoolboy days to today?

10. What is Mencken's belief about American millionaires?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 904 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample