View a FREE sample

This quiz consists of 5 multiple choice and 5 short answer questions through Chapter 11.1.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. In what language does Mencken state the double negative was once "quite respectable?"
(a) French.
(b) Russian.
(c) Spanish.
(d) Anglo-Saxon.

2. What term did John Witherspoon coin, framing it within the context of vulgarity?
(a) Briticism.
(b) Americanism.
(c) Anglophile.
(d) Scientist.

3. Which of the following is not one of the minor differences Mencken lists in Chapter 8.7?
(a) Alarm.
(b) Specialty.
(c) Fruit.
(d) Aluminum.

4. For which voiceless consonant is the voiced "d" substituting with growing regularity, according to Mearns?
(a) C.
(b) S.
(c) T.
(d) B.

5. Which still-popular German given name survives today, with a slight change in spelling, as Mencken reports in Chapter 10.2?
(a) Franz.
(b) Wilhelm.
(c) Karl.
(d) Hans.

Short Answer Questions

1. What does Mencken state is neglected by those who are professional trained to investigate it?

2. Who was the author of the couplet that Mencken quotes: "For thou art a girl as much brighter than her / As he was a poet sublimer than me"?

3. Which nationality does Mencken claim is most eager to Americanize the names of their children?

4. According to Benjamin Franklin, what was roughly the population of the colonies in 1751?

5. What country's works dominated the reading habits of the American colonists in the latter 18th century?

(see the answer key)

This section contains 209 words (approx. 1 page at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample