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This quiz consists of 5 multiple choice and 5 short answer questions through 19-23.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. In what way did Mencken mock General John Pershing?
(a) Mencken brought to light the existence of Pershing's mistress.
(b) Mencken mocked Pershing for a recent bumbling speech.
(c) Mencken made fun of a recent photograph of Pershing wrapped in an American flag.
(d) Mencken felt the vast amount of medals pinned to Pershing's uniform makes the man look ridiculous.

2. Which was NOT a feature of the ideal aristocracy, according to Mencken?
(a) The presence of bold, free-thinking men.
(b) Intellectual superiority.
(c) The ability to produce excellent art.
(d) The presence of a complex set of protocols and accepted behaviors.

3. What famous speech did Ralph Waldo Emerson deliver in 1837?
(a) The Pride of European Intellectualism.
(b) The Merits of Monogamy.
(c) The American Scholar.
(d) The Awfulness of War.

4. Why do "handsome men" deserve suspicion?
(a) They are always self-serving and vain.
(b) They are "ugly" inside.
(c) The human body is inherently ugly.
(d) They are terrible conversationalists.

5. What kind of presence did Henry Cabot Lodge have, according to Mencken?
(a) Lodge was meek and soft-voiced.
(b) Lodge was cantankerous and given to bickering.
(c) Lodge swore often and told dirty jokes, shocking women.
(d) Lodge was powerful and authoritative.

Short Answer Questions

1. Why was Theodore Dreiser compared to Franz Schubert by Mencken?

2. What did Mencken think about monogamy, as revealed in "Cavia Cobaya"?

3. What did Mencken think about Woodrow Wilson's biography of George Washington?

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

5. Which book was Mencken's touchstone into literature?

(see the answer key)

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