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

Multiple Choice Questions

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

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

3. 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.

4. Which was NOT a source of terrible smell in the Baltimore of the 1880s, according to Mencken?
(a) The St. Helen's insane asylum.
(b) The Back Basin.
(c) Wilkins Hair Factory.
(d) The glue factory.

5. What was Mencken's nickname for Chesapeake Bay?
(a) Home of the yummy lobsters.
(b) The protein factory.
(c) The big blue.
(d) Crab central.

Short Answer Questions

1. In "Pater Patriae," which was NOT one of the reasons Mencken admired George Washington?

2. In "The Baltimore of the Eighties," why does Mencken's mother lament about a trip to the market?

3. Who is the editor of this volume?

4. According to "Text for Newspaper Days," what is modern journalism missing?

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

(see the answer key)

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