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This test consists of 5 short answer questions and 1 (of 3) essay topics.
Short Answer Questions
1. Which of the following is one of the three great causes of change in language according to Sayce, as reported in Chapter 9.3?
2. Which of the following is not one of the minor differences Mencken lists in Chapter 8.7?
3. Which of the following is the analogate to which Mencken compares the slang words overused by the ignorant?
4. Who is the author of "A Doll's House," who puts bad grammar into Nora Helmar's mouth?
5. What military slang term refers to the sunburned necks of the Marines?
Essay Topics
Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:
Essay Topic 1
Write an essay analyzing the nature of the relationship between the "melting pot" of American immigrant assimilation and the nomenclature that permeates the country. What are the evident influences of foreign languages on American names? How are these names Americanized? What is the general tendency of American-speakers in the employment and application of names to places and people? To what degree are the various names Americanized? What is the cause of Americanization of names? What is its result and what does it indicate about the American spirit?
Essay Topic 2
One of the hardest aspects of any language that is almost impossible to classify is the nuances of pronunciation. Write an essay analyzing the problems caused by the varieties and degrees of pronunciation. Have the difficulties it causes those who study the American language. What is the definition of pronunciation? How does Mencken treat of pronunciation? What are the ways in which it may change an auditor's understanding of a language? How is the American pronunciation divergent from the British? What particularities of the American pronunciation are significant in comprehension of the American language?
Essay Topic 3
Mencken claims that the true American spirit is to be found not in the textbooks or proclamations of grammarians, but in the vulgar speech of the common people. Discuss this claim in a thoughtful analytical essay. What is the American spirit? Does Mencken clearly present what the American spirit is? Is his a defensible claim? How does the vulgar speech of the common person reflect this spirit? Is there some danger of degradation in linguistic form from prevalence of the vulgar speech? How does the vulgar speech reflect upon the American as a human person?
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