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This quiz consists of 5 multiple choice and 5 short answer questions through 40-44.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What must modern religions do to "escape absurdity"?
(a) They must allow gay marriage.
(b) They should encourage a much more relaxed church service.
(c) They should accept a small element of agnosticism.
(d) They must disband immediately.

2. What was the "last straw" that forced Mencken to quit the organization in #16?
(a) A painful accident with the horizontal bar.
(b) An evangelical teen in the reading room.
(c) The relentless shouting of his gym teacher.
(d) The fact that the running track was rectangular.

3. What might Mencken say about a writer's sense of beauty?
(a) The writer has a very poor sense of beauty.
(b) Beauty is irrelevant to the writer, who must deal with cold, hard facts.
(c) The writer has an average sense of beauty.
(d) The writer has a profound sense of beauty.

4. What did Mencken, somewhat tongue-in-cheek, feel about the tradition of giving medals in the military?
(a) Medals should be reserved just for generals, as the "idea men" of the military.
(b) Medals should be given only at the conclusion of career service.
(c) Medals should be given on a daily basis, because every day soldiers sacrifice.
(d) Medals should be given to common soldiers, and not just generals.

5. What famous speech did Ralph Waldo Emerson deliver in 1837?
(a) The American Scholar.
(b) The Merits of Monogamy.
(c) The Awfulness of War.
(d) The Pride of European Intellectualism.

Short Answer Questions

1. Which of the following is NOT a trait of the writer, according to Mencken in "The Author at Work"?

2. What was Alistair Cooke's relationship to H. L. Mencken?

3. In what way did Mencken mock General John Pershing?

4. What was Calvin Coolidge's chief trait, according to Mencken?

5. How do common folk read the Bible, according to Mencken in "Holy Writ"?

(see the answer key)

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