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This quiz consists of 5 multiple choice and 5 short answer questions through 5-9.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What cheeky nickname did Mencken give Theodore Dreiser?
(a) The Frankenstein of the short story.
(b) The Clown Prince of prose.
(c) The Hindenburg of the novel.
(d) The Jack Ripper of the novel.

2. In "The Baltimore of the Eighties," why does Mencken's mother lament about a trip to the market?
(a) Mencken had stolen some penny candy.
(b) A pickpocket had stolen her purse.
(c) The price of crabs had doubled.
(d) The vendors had started charging for roe.

3. Why was Theodore Dreiser compared to Franz Schubert by Mencken?
(a) Dreiser and Schubert didn't know the theory of their arts, but nonetheless they produce valuable work.
(b) Dreiser and Schubert used whimsy, irony, and a sense of silliness.
(c) Dreiser and Schubert both created work that is "lighter than air."
(d) Dreiser and Schubert exhibited an uncommon and sometimes perverse imagination.

4. In which city did Mencken grow up?
(a) Pittsburgh.
(b) Baltimore.
(c) Cincinnati.
(d) Washington, D.C.

5. How did Gene the magistrate handle an overzealous Methodist clergyman?
(a) Gene ruled that religion was essential to the functioning of a democracy.
(b) Gene created trumped-up charges to render him no longer a problem.
(c) Gene had policemen follow the clergyman wherever he went.
(d) Gene ruled that the clergyman was within his rights to practice in the Jewish ghetto.

Short Answer Questions

1. What was the "last straw" that forced Mencken to quit the organization in #16?

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

3. What organization did Mencken's father force him to join at age fourteen?

4. Charlie the policeman was charged with which task, in "Recollections of Notable Cops"?

5. What was Theodore Dreiser's national and ethnic background?

(see the answer key)

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