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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 is the first factor that Mencken identifies as an immediate impediment to the growth of the American language in Chapter 3.1?
(a) Regional diversity.
(b) Political disharmony.
(c) Lack of a national literature.
(d) Territorial expansiveness.

2. What sound did Webster object to inserting in words such as "gradual" and "nature," before the "u"?
(a) Ch.
(b) Dh.
(c) Y.
(d) T.

3. Which Founding Father is said to have sought to establish a new American alphabet?
(a) John Hancock.
(b) Thomas Jefferson.
(c) Benjamin Franklin.
(d) George Washington.

4. Which is the second factor that Mencken identifies as an impediment to the growth of the American language in Chapter 3.1?
(a) Lack of a national literature.
(b) Political disharmony.
(c) Regional diversity.
(d) Territorial expansiveness.

5. Who is the author of "Travels in North America," published in 1827?
(a) Basil Hall.
(b) Charles Astor Bristed.
(c) Henry Alford.
(d) Louis Untermeyer.

Short Answer Questions

1. Which European language has exerted the most influence on the American language?

2. What English word does the author of "Men and Manners" lament about the American re-signification?

3. According to Mencken, what did the first generations born in the New World value as a virtue over enterprise and resourcefulness?

4. 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?

5. What American writer does Mencken claim likely inspired envy in British writers?

(see the answer key)

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