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This quiz consists of 5 multiple choice and 5 short answer questions through Chapter 10.1.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. According to Mencken, how do the English pronounce "been?"
(a) Bein.
(b) Bain.
(c) Bean.
(d) Bin.

2. What is the English meaning of the Hawaiian word "lanai"?
(a) Balcony.
(b) Bathroom.
(c) Garage.
(d) Porch.

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

4. Who is apparently the first literary critic to point out the "enormous gap between the literate and unliterate American"?
(a) Rene Wellek.
(b) I.A. Richards.
(c) Francis Hackett.
(d) Allen Tate.

5. Mencken reports hearing of a German named "Knoche," who to avoid being called "Nokky," changed his name to what?
(a) Knowles.
(b) Nixon.
(c) Nock.
(d) Knox.

Short Answer Questions

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

2. What language does the formalism of English grammarians come from?

3. What does the movement towards the general vowel neutralization promise to do in the future, according to Mencken?

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

5. In what century did Americans begin to rebel against the capitalization trends dominant in England?

(see the answer key)

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