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This quiz consists of 5 multiple choice and 5 short answer questions through 35-39.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. In "Travail," how did the boys going to school in the morning seem to Mencken?
(a) Tired and sad.
(b) Energetic and hopeful.
(c) Upbeat and joyous.
(d) Like they might someday conquer the world.

2. How was plutocracy created, according to Mencken?
(a) From the corrupting influence of money.
(b) Through dictatorial grabs for power.
(c) From the ruins of proper aristocracy.
(d) From a desperate and starving peasant class.

3. Why, according to Mencken, do virtuous people end up sinning the worst?
(a) The virtuous don't know how to handle sin, and thus get carried away.
(b) To be "virtuous" is a lie: the virtuous are among the most sinful among us.
(c) Virtuous people do difficult work, and this work drives them insane.
(d) Virtuous people give of themselves so much, they are empty inside.

4. What did Mencken attribute to the fall of the "good man" in "A Good Man Gone Wrong"?
(a) A runaway automobile.
(b) A nagging housewife.
(c) A Presbyterian upbringing.
(d) An "unspeakable force in the universe."

5. What did Mencken think about Lincoln's issuing of the Emancipation Proclamation?
(a) Lincoln was tricked into issuing the proclamation by business interests.
(b) Lincoln delayed releasing the proclamation until a politically-favorable time.
(c) Lincoln issued the proclamation in a desperate and emotionally-troubled state.
(d) Lincoln was doing the bidding of "Black Republicans" by releasing the proclamation.

Short Answer Questions

1. What was Mencken's phrase for religious fundamentalism?

2. Which of the following was true in regard to statements made by Mencken about chiropractic?

3. Why did Mencken call democracy a "self-limiting disease"?

4. What does Mencken call a man who resists the charms of women?

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

(see the answer key)

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