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This quiz consists of 5 multiple choice and 5 short answer questions through 10-14.

Multiple Choice Questions

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

2. What is democracy's "aim," according to Mencken?
(a) To protect the children of a society.
(b) To indoctrinate everyone in religious "poppycock."
(c) To ensure great wealth for all.
(d) To pull everyone down to the same level.

3. What was the name of H. L. Mencken's brother?
(a) Mitch.
(b) Jesse.
(c) Charlie.
(d) Bud.

4. What does Mencken state about the literary influence(s) of Theodore Dreiser?
(a) Dreiser was the product of Emile Zola.
(b) Dreiser draws upon the literary tradition of Germany.
(c) Dreiser was the product of Frank Norris.
(d) No one author can be pointed to as an influence.

5. What one thing did Mencken feel was useful from the contributions of Sigmund Freud?
(a) The notion that dreams could reveal aspects of our everyday lives.
(b) The notion that people could be easily hypnotized.
(c) The notion that lying stemmed from an unconscious place.
(d) The notion that "mother issues" were deeply-seated.

Short Answer Questions

1. In "Recollections of Notable Cops," why does Mencken find the idea of a police academy remarkable?

2. What does Mencken call a man who resists the charms of women?

3. Which is NOT one of the reasons winters were difficult in 1880s Baltimore?

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

5. What was the subject of the first Mencken-written article that was ever published?

(see the answer key)

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