View a FREE sample

This quiz consists of 5 multiple choice and 5 short answer questions through Chapter 8.3 | Chapter 8.4.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. According to Mencken, which title is subject to the greatest divergence in usage?
(a) General.
(b) Professor.
(c) The Honorable.
(d) Doctor.

2. Which 1914 English dictionary made many important concessions to American spellings?
(a) The Concise Oxford Dictionary.
(b) The London Pocket Dictionary.
(c) The Cambridge Fleet Edition.
(d) The New English Dictionary.

3. What American writer does Mencken claim likely inspired envy in British writers?
(a) Poe.
(b) Griswold.
(c) Irving.
(d) Fowler.

4. Which of the following groups of foreign immigrants does Mencken not attribute influence over American English in Chapter 6.4?
(a) South-Pacific Asian Islanders.
(b) Russian Jews.
(c) Italians.
(d) Slavic peoples.

5. What purpose does Miss Wittmann say is served by the shortening of word forms?
(a) Creativity.
(b) None.
(c) Convenience.
(d) Color.

Short Answer Questions

1. In what location does Mencken say both the American and English orthographies flourish side by side?

2. Which Founding Father is said to have sought to establish a new American alphabet?

3. Which of the early presidents does Mencken identify as archetypal of the new American?

4. Which is the first factor that Mencken identifies as an immediate impediment to the growth of the American language in Chapter 3.1?

5. Who is the author of "Travels in North America," published in 1827?

(see the answer key)

This section contains 222 words (approx. 1 page at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample