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This quiz consists of 5 multiple choice and 5 short answer questions through 15-18.

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. What was Mencken's criticism for Lincoln's Gettysburg Address?
(a) It was a slap in the face to Southern Democrats.
(b) It was more poetry than logic.
(c) It was full of racist remarks and innuendo.
(d) It was more about logistics and policy than stirring rhetoric.

3. Which is NOT one of the reasons winters were difficult in 1880s Baltimore?
(a) Cellars could flood.
(b) Water pipes could burst.
(c) The cold was severe, and furnaces did not help much.
(d) Snow caused many roofs to cave in.

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

5. Which was NOT a source of loud noise in the Baltimore of the 1880s, according to Mencken?
(a) Penny candy vendors hawking their candy.
(b) Children singing and yelling in the streets.
(c) Iron tires hitting hard cobblestone streets.
(d) Barking dogs.

Short Answer Questions

1. In "Gore in the Caribees," what was Mencken's perspective on the revolution in Cuba?

2. What must modern religions do to "escape absurdity"?

3. According to Mencken, what was the Union fighting for in the Civil War?

4. What moral choice faced Mencken and a cop on New Year's Day, in "Recollections of Notable Cops"?

5. What did Mencken think about Lincoln's issuing of the Emancipation Proclamation?

(see the answer key)

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