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This quiz consists of 5 multiple choice and 5 short answer questions through Chapter 2.3 | Chapter 2.4.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What use of storage was added to the American meaning of the word "barn?"
(a) Cattle.
(b) Crops.
(c) Chickens.
(d) Horses.

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

3. Who proposed a generally accepted nomenclature for currency in 1785?
(a) Gouverneur Morris.
(b) Thomas Jefferson.
(c) Noah Webster.
(d) Richard Grant White.

4. According to the report of Beverley, what did a group of soldiers turn into after eating some Jimson Weed?
(a) Somnambulists.
(b) Corpses.
(c) Zombies.
(d) Fools.

5. According to Mencken at the beginning of Chapter 1.3, what do the novelists and newspapermen on either side of the Atlantic ocean delight in?
(a) Localisms.
(b) Intercommunication.
(c) Publishing.
(d) Travel.

Short Answer Questions

1. What term did John Witherspoon coin, framing it within the context of vulgarity?

2. What "great humorist" does Mencken cite in Chapter 1.3 as "celebrating 'the vigorous new vernacular of the occidental plains and mountains'"?

3. What is the principal reason Mencken states that the English language has not greatly diverged since the foundation of the United States of America?

4. What is the second characteristic that Mencken attributes to American English in Chapter 1.5?

5. To what continent does Mencken attribute the acknowledgment of the differences between American and British English?

(see the answer key)

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