View a FREE sample

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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What did Mencken attribute to the fall of the "good man" in "A Good Man Gone Wrong"?
(a) A runaway automobile.
(b) A nagging housewife.
(c) A Presbyterian upbringing.
(d) An "unspeakable force in the universe."

2. What was the subject of the Scopes monkey trial?
(a) The kidnapping of a chimpanzee.
(b) The teaching of evolution.
(c) The assault of a zoo heckler by a gorilla.
(d) A treasonous plot to help a Central American country.

3. What is a man's usual response to beauty?
(a) Highly-violent behavior.
(b) Lust.
(c) Indifference.
(d) Romantic affection.

4. In "Travail," how did the boys going to school in the morning seem to Mencken?
(a) Upbeat and joyous.
(b) Like they might someday conquer the world.
(c) Tired and sad.
(d) Energetic and hopeful.

5. According to the editor, why were the 1930s Mencken's "downfall"?
(a) Mencken's severe illness limited his output.
(b) President FDR waged a battle of personal attacks against Mencken.
(c) Mencken spent most of the decade in Europe.
(d) The hardships in the country changed popular sentiment.

Short Answer Questions

1. What stance can Mencken be said to have taken in "Star-Spangled Man"?

2. What did Mencken think about Woodrow Wilson's biography of George Washington?

3. What theoretical scenario did Mencken pose in "The Calamity of Appomattox"?

4. Which was NOT a source of loud noise in the Baltimore of the 1880s, according to Mencken?

5. What did Mencken, somewhat tongue-in-cheek, feel about the tradition of giving medals in the military?

(see the answer key)

This section contains 399 words (approx. 2 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample