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This test consists of 5 short answer questions and 1 (of 3) essay topics.
Short Answer Questions
1. According to Mencken, the word "none" is a degenerate composition of what two words?
2. What religious affiliation, commonly held in both countries, has had a larger influence on names in America than in England?
3. Which double negative word is primarily found in Shakespeare?
4. Which of the following is the analogate to which Mencken compares the slang words overused by the ignorant?
5. Which country does Mencken state has a fondness for using surnames as given names?
Essay Topics
Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:
Essay Topic 1
At the root of the divergence of American from British was the spirit of the Revolution. Write an essay responding to the following questions: What was the nature of the revolutionary spirit? Why did it desire to distinguish itself from England? Why did this desire carry over to language? How was it practical and how impractical? What do these impracticalities reveal about the nature of the spirit? How did this spirit directly influence the American dialect? How did it indirectly influence it? For how long did this spirit continue to influence, directly or indirectly, the American language? What is significant about the relationship between this spirit and the language?
Essay Topic 2
An important distinction, which Mencken makes in discussing the nature of the American language, is between the proper speech of literate Americans and the common speech of what he calls the proletariat. Write an essay discussing this distinction and its ultimate significance. According to what Mencken has written, is there a genuine distinction between the two? Which of the two does Mencken appear to favor? What are the strengths and weaknesses of each, the proper and the improper, the formal and the informal? What arguments may be made in defense of each?
Essay Topic 3
A significant contributor to the present state of the American language is the influx of foreign words, particularly in the 19th and 20th centuries. Compose an essay analyzing the impact and influences of these various foreign words. What particular contributions have they made to the language? How do they reflect the overall composition of the American populace? How have these words themselves changed? How have they changed the language overall? How do all of these changes indicate the tendencies of the American English dialect?
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This section contains 392 words (approx. 2 pages at 300 words per page) |
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