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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. In "Recollections of Notable Cops," why does Mencken find the idea of a police academy remarkable?
(a) Cops in Mencken's younger days were not educated.
(b) Mencken states that police academies are contrary to the ideals of democracy.
(c) Academies usually teach useless skills; police academies teach useful skills.
(d) Mencken regards policemen as corrupt, vicious brutes.

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

3. According to "Quid Est Veritas?," what kind of religion professes to know God exactly and completely?
(a) Primitive religions.
(b) Admirable religions.
(c) Perfect religions.
(d) American religions.

4. Which is one of the stated reasons the editor put the volume together?
(a) To expose the corrupt policies of Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
(b) To sell books for profit.
(c) To fight charges that Mencken was racist.
(d) To introduce the works of H. L. Mencken to a new generation.

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

Short Answer Questions

1. What was Mencken's criticism for Lincoln's Gettysburg Address?

2. Which was NOT a feature of the ideal aristocracy, according to Mencken?

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

4. According to Mencken, what kind of books did Theodore Dreiser produce?

5. Who presided over the Republican Convention of 1920?

(see the answer key)

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