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This quiz consists of 5 multiple choice and 5 short answer questions through Chapter 3.5 | Chapter 4.1.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Which defender of Americanisms cited by Mencken in Chapter 1.3 states that "Language is made by the people"?
(a) Edgar Jepson.
(b) William Archer.
(c) George Ade.
(d) Richard Aldington.

2. Where was the broad "a" principally established prior to the Civil War?
(a) The Southeast.
(b) California.
(c) New England.
(d) The Midwest.

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

4. To what continent does Mencken attribute the acknowledgment of the differences between American and British English?
(a) Europe.
(b) North America.
(c) Asia.
(d) South America.

5. Which term do English dictionaries all describe as an Americanism from the comparative list in Chapter 4.1, despite the English version being frequently used in America?
(a) Freight.
(b) Rooster.
(c) Hog-pen.
(d) Railroad.

Short Answer Questions

1. What word did Webster argue should have its vowel sound changed to "ee" instead of "eh"?

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

3. Which London newspaper lamented the "menace" that American movies offer to the purity of the English language?

4. To what phrase did Benjamin Franklin, Noah Webster, and Robert Southey object as a base Americanism, as discussed in Chapter 2.3?

5. Which of the following did the African slaves NOT introduce to American English?

(see the answer key)

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