View a FREE sample

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

Multiple Choice Questions

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

2. Which of the following did the African slaves NOT introduce to American English?
(a) Gumbo.
(b) Banjo.
(c) Goober.
(d) Voodoo.

3. What is the second characteristic that Mencken attributes to American English in Chapter 1.5?
(a) Disunity of regional dialects.
(b) Translatability to British English.
(c) Resistance to neologisms.
(d) Disregard of rule and precedent.

4. Who is the author of "Dissertations on the English Language"?
(a) H.L. Mencken.
(b) Noah Webster.
(c) Thomas Jefferson.
(d) Benjamin Franklin.

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

Short Answer Questions

1. What does John S. Farmer describe the Western vernacular as being?

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

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

4. What word in American is used for the English word "shoe?"

5. How many classifications of Americanisms does Bartlett postulate in his 1859 dictionary?

(see the answer key)

This section contains 223 words (approx. 1 page at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample