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This quiz consists of 5 multiple choice and 5 short answer questions through 29-33.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. How was Mencken able to get a taxi driver to drive him to a speakeasy in Pennsylvania?
(a) He threatened the driver with jail time.
(b) He showed the driver the musical score from a Bach concert.
(c) He gave the driver a ten dollar bill.
(d) He agreed to write an article about the driver.

2. Why might the Anglo-Saxon race have entered into the Spanish-American war, according to Mencken?
(a) They knew they could seize the Spanish crown.
(b) The war protected vital interests in the Caribbean.
(c) It was a war they were sure to win.
(d) They were courageous and foolhardy.

3. Which man did Mencken dub the "Star-Spangled Man"?
(a) John Pershing.
(b) William Jennings Bryan.
(c) George Washington.
(d) Woodrow Wilson.

4. Who presided over the Republican Convention of 1920?
(a) William Jennings Bryan.
(b) Henry Cabot Lodge.
(c) Grover Garfield.
(d) Franklin Pierce.

5. How did Mencken describe the music of Puccini?
(a) "A dozen wind chimes in a hurricane."
(b) "Two intertwined dogs yapping at each other."
(c) "Silver macaroni, exquisitely tangled."
(d) "Two embalmers at work upon a minor poet."

Short Answer Questions

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

2. Who was Mencken with at a Bach concert in Pennsylvania when he decided to get some liquor?

3. In "Star-Spangled Man," Mencken argued that who, besides soldiers, should get medals?

4. Which historical figure did Mencken ridicule by stating he was known as a "plaster saint"?

5. What quotation did Mencken borrow from Theodore Dreiser in "Cavia Cobaya"?

(see the answer key)

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