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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. In "Gore in the Caribees," what was Mencken's perspective on the revolution in Cuba?
(a) Mencken refused to cover the event, and is fired by his newspaper.
(b) Mencken thought the event is not newsworthy, and only reluctantly does he travel to cover it.
(c) Mencken thought it is newsworthy, and he asks to cover it.
(d) Mencken was fervently pro-Cuba, and travels to the country to engage in propaganda.

2. What was Alistair Cooke's relationship to H. L. Mencken?
(a) A political enemy.
(b) A poet whom Mencken greatly admires.
(c) A journalist and friend.
(d) A childhood acquaintance.

3. Which is NOT a reason Mencken gives for admiring Theodore Dreiser?
(a) Dreiser's insistence on describing every detail of a scene.
(b) Dreiser's unique place in the world of literature.
(c) Dreiser's unchanging subject matter and style.
(d) The ability for Dreiser to touch a reader on an emotional level.

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

5. Which was described as Mencken's earliest memory?
(a) Swatting flies with his brother in the kitchen.
(b) Attending a speech of William Jennings Bryan.
(c) Watching a carnival of the Order of Orioles.
(d) Getting bitten by a snake.

Short Answer Questions

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

2. What did Gene the magistrate do with respect to an old man in his court accused of wife beating?

3. Who was the president of Cuba when Mencken visited the country in "Gore in the Caribees"?

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

5. Which is one of the stated reasons the editor put the volume together?

(see the answer key)

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