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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. Where did Mencken meet Sister Aimee?
(a) The Los Angeles Basilica.
(b) An Indian retreat.
(c) The San Diego Zoo.
(d) The offices of the Baltimore Sun.

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

3. 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.

4. Who was the father of the American short story?
(a) Theodore Dreiser.
(b) Ralph Waldo Emerson.
(c) Hamlin Garland.
(d) Edgar Allan Poe.

5. Why was the centenary of the Viennese Waltz not celebrated in America, according to Mencken?
(a) Its melody is too sophisticated for Americans.
(b) It is too slow for Americans with short attention spans.
(c) It is a joyous waltz, and joy was banned with Prohibition.
(d) No one dances the waltz in America.

Short Answer Questions

1. What is the crux of Mr. Ayres' philosophical argument that Mencken criticizes?

2. Which classical composer could not "write for the mob"?

3. What is the contemporary invention that Mencken likes most?

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

5. What is the worst job in the world, according to Chapter 17?

Short Essay Questions

1. What memorable position does Mencken take on opera?

2. What is Mencken's own philosophy of psychology? What does he feel forms the basis of human psychology?

3. Summarize Mencken's views on William Dean Howells.

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

5. What does Mencken feel is the contemporary state of psychology? How does he feel about Freudianism?

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

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

8. Describe the following under the category of what Mencken calls "'The Lesser Arts": a) oil painting, b) drama.

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

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

(see the answer keys)

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