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This quiz consists of 5 multiple choice and 5 short answer questions through Chapter 3.1 | Chapter 3.2.

Multiple Choice Questions

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

2. To what phrase did Benjamin Franklin, Noah Webster, and Robert Southey object as a base Americanism, as discussed in Chapter 2.3?
(a) To indulge.
(b) To process.
(c) To advocate.
(d) Free endorsement.

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

4. According to Benjamin Franklin, what was roughly the population of the colonies in 1751?
(a) 500,000
(b) 1,000,000
(c) 50,000,000
(d) 10,000,000

5. Which letter of the alphabet do Americans differ in pronunciation from other English-speaking countries?
(a) X.
(b) Z.
(c) W.
(d) J.

Short Answer Questions

1. How many dialects dominate American English, according to Chapter 1.5?

2. According to the report of Beverley, what did a group of soldiers turn into after eating some Jimson Weed?

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

4. What language does Mencken quote Sidney Low as saying is not taught to English youth?

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

(see the answer key)

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