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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What stance can Mencken be said to have taken in "Star-Spangled Man"?
(a) Pro-life.
(b) Anti-war.
(c) Pro-gun.
(d) Anti-establishment.

2. Which of the following is NOT something that exists as a result of the Anglo-Saxon race, according to Mencken?
(a) The Ku Klux Klan.
(b) Fundamentalism.
(c) A tradition of cultural superiority.
(d) The slaughter of American Indians.

3. Why did Mencken call democracy a "self-limiting disease"?
(a) Democracy achieves equality, and once equality is achieved, democracy has nothing to accomplish.
(b) Democracy does damage, but the damage it can do is limited.
(c) Democracy is able to place limits on the power of politicians.
(d) Members of the Democratic Party inflict damage on themselves through numerous scandals.

4. Why did Mencken curse those who translated the Bible into English?
(a) They misinterpreted the principles of Jesus Christ.
(b) They made many factual errors.
(c) They made the prose overly flowery and beautiful.
(d) They made a host of grammatical errors.

5. What do saints have in common with scientists?
(a) Both simply seek the truth.
(b) Both manipulate public opinion to advance their own position.
(c) Both unselfishly serve mankind.
(d) Both corrupt the truth to suit their best interests.

Short Answer Questions

1. Who started chiropractic, according to Mencken?

2. What happened when Mencken sent a junior reporter to get him liquor during the Republican National Convention?

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

4. What famous speech did Ralph Waldo Emerson deliver in 1837?

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

(see the answer key)

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