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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 is the contemporary invention that Mencken likes most?
2. What was Roosevelt's team of political advisers popularly called?
3. What point does Mencken make by bringing up an 84-year-old man he knew in Chapter 21?
4. What does Mencken say about the nature of scientific hypotheses?
5. Mencken reports on a boxing with which famed boxer?
Short Essay Questions
1. What opinion does Mencken render about a) Mary Baker G. Eddy and Christian Science, and b) the doctrine of theosophy?
2. Summarize Mencken's view of Ludwig van Beethoven.
3. 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?
4. What opinion does Mencken render about the Black Plague that decimated Europe in the Middle Ages?
5. In Chapter 19, Mencken discusses science. Discuss his views of a) the scientific hypothesis, b) Charles Darwin, and c) Mr. Ayres' and his philosophy.
6. What does Mencken feel is the contemporary state of psychology? How does he feel about Freudianism?
7. What is Mencken's own philosophy of psychology? What does he feel forms the basis of human psychology?
8. Describe the following under the category of what Mencken calls "'The Lesser Arts": a) oil painting, b) drama.
9. Why does Mencken make mention of Sister Aimee? Who was Sister Aimee, and what was Mencken's opinion of her?
10. What is Mencken's opinion of the music of Johann Strauss? Why wasn't Strauss' music more well-received in America?
Essay Topics
Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:
Essay Topic 1
In Chapter 15 Mencken describes several "Odd Fish." Discuss and summarize the relevance of the following:
1) Mr. Gray
2) Valentino
3) Sister Aimee
4) Charles Joseph Bonaparte
Why are these people "Odd Fish" in Mencken's opinion? What is "normal" versus "odd" for Mencken? How does this classification reflect upon Mencken's overall view of human nature?
Essay Topic 2
Summarize Chapter 1 which discusses the nature of man.
a) What is the nature of man to Mencken? What is Man guided by?
b) What is the nature of the relationship between God and Man?
c) What is the nature of the relationship between Man and animal?
d) What part does "delusion" play in man's relationship to the universe?
Essay Topic 3
Compare and contrast Mencken's view of the American South, pre-Civil War versus post-Civil War. Include defining characteristics, form of government, qualities of people, culture, wealth, and anything else you feel is relevant to the discussion.
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This section contains 926 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) |
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