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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. What was "unusual" about Mr. Gray?
(a) He was a victim of leprosy.
(b) He could not remember faces.
(c) He refused to give his real name to Mencken.
(d) He was electrocuted to death.

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

3. Which author does Mencken believe is for "lunch-table idealists"?
(a) Henry David Thoreau.
(b) Walt Whitman.
(c) Mark Twain.
(d) Ralph Waldo Emerson.

4. 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 that rhymes.
(c) Musical poetry and poetry of false ideas.
(d) Poetry of false ideas and poetry that tells a story.

5. Who does Mencken identify as the father of chiropractic?
(a) Charles Joseph Bonaparte.
(b) William Carlos Williams.
(c) Andrew Still.
(d) John Ayres.

Short Answer Questions

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

2. What was Mencken's opinion of New Deal programs?

3. What central critique does Mencken have for teachers of his day?

4. For Mencken, what is the nature of the range of the central psychological spectrum upon which all humans reside?

5. Which president did Charles Joseph Bonaparte work for?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why does Mencken criticize the American Medical Association? What is his opinion of doctors as a professional class?

2. What memorable position does Mencken take on opera?

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

4. 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?

5. Why does Mencken make mention of Sister Aimee? Who was Sister Aimee, and what was Mencken's opinion of her?

6. How does Mencken compare socialism to capitalism? Include the Bolshevik Revolution in your response.

7. What does Mencken believe about contemporary new inventions? Mention the telephone as well as the thermostat in your response.

8. In Chapter 24, Mencken discusses art and literary criticism. How do critics influence artists? And what makes for the best kind of literary critics?

9. What insight does Mencken provide about physical disease/illness?

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

(see the answer keys)

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