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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What aspect of human nature fuels the democratic system of government?

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

3. What do most women think of their husbands according to Mencken?

4. What aspect of President Grant does Mencken admire?

5. Who does Mencken dub "The Lady of Joy"?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. What does Mencken have to say about politicians? What kind of people are they? How do they operate?

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

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. What is Mencken's view of romantic love?

6. Describe Mencken's conception of the Anglo-Saxon American. What are this person's flaws?

7. What is democracy's fundamental flaw? What aspect of human nature motivates democracy?

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

9. What is Mencken's view of monogamy/marriage?

10. Describe Mencken's opinion of George Washington. Why does Mencken admire him? Why doesn't Mencken believe Washington would do well in a contemporary political climate?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Describe in-depth Mencken's views of the following people:

1) William Jennings Bryan

2) Woodrow Wilson

3) Warren G. Harding

4) Thorstein Veblen

5) Calvin Coolidge

6) Oliver Wendell Holmes

Essay Topic 2

Describe in-depth Mencken's views of the following people:

1) Abraham Lincoln

2) George Washington

3) Ulysses S. Grant

4) Theodore Roosevelt

5) Grover Cleveland

Essay Topic 3

In Chapters 5 and 6, Mencken discusses morality, and crime and punishment, respectively.

1) Discuss Mencken's belief about the origin of morality, and how it evolved. Can morality change, or is it static?

2) Discuss Mencken's thoughts about Christian morality in general.

3) Discuss Mencken's opinion of contemporary forms of punishment for committed crimes. What is the role of punishment?

(see the answer keys)

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