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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. Who wrote Parsifal?

2. Why does Mencken criticize the American Medical Association?

3. Where did Mencken meet Sister Aimee?

4. Who was the attorney on the side of the defense in the Scopes Monkey Trial?

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

Short Essay Questions

1. What memorable position does Mencken take on opera?

2. 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?

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

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

5. What does Mencken believe about chiropractors?

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

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

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

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

10. In an editorial dated October, 1928, Mencken discusses schoolboys. Summarize this article. What suggestions does Mencken have for improving education?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Chapter 22 is dedicated to "Utopian Flights."

1) What is a "Utopian Flight" as Mencken has described it? How does the notion of the Utopian flight relate to Mencken's view of human nature? How does the notion relate to Mencken's view of government?

2) Summarize Mencken's suggestion for choosing legislators. Discuss the mechanics of this system, and its supposed benefits.

3) Summarize Mencken's suggestion for "special laws" to be applied to government officials. Discuss the mechanics of this system, and its supposed benefits.

Essay Topic 2

1) Discuss Mencken's view of socialism. What effect has socialism has on the world?

2) Compare and contrast Mencken's view of capitalism with that of socialism.

3) Relate Mencken's view of human nature with his view of economics. How do the tendencies and reality of the human condition affect the effectiveness of economical models, for Mencken?

Essay Topic 3

Choose five of the types of people Mencken discusses in Chapter 2 and discuss:

a) The manner in which Mencken describes them

b) What Mencken believes motivates each type of people

c) What the defining characteristics of each type of people are

(see the answer keys)

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