2. What does Mencken make synonymous with democracy in "A Blind Spot"?
(a) Hedonism.
(b) Totalitarianism.
(c) Agnosticism.
(d) Puritanism.

3. What was the "last straw" that forced Mencken to quit the organization in #16?
(a) An evangelical teen in the reading room.
(b) The fact that the running track was rectangular.
(c) The relentless shouting of his gym teacher.
(d) A painful accident with the horizontal bar.

4. Why was Theodore Dreiser compared to Franz Schubert by Mencken?
(a) Dreiser and Schubert used whimsy, irony, and a sense of silliness.
(b) Dreiser and Schubert exhibited an uncommon and sometimes perverse imagination.
(c) Dreiser and Schubert didn't know the theory of their arts, but nonetheless they produce valuable work.
(d) Dreiser and Schubert both created work that is "lighter than air."

5. What was Mencken's nickname for Chesapeake Bay?
(a) The big blue.
(b) The protein factory.
(c) Crab central.
(d) Home of the yummy lobsters.

6. Which decade, according to the author, was Mencken at his best?
(a) The 1940s.
(b) The 1910s.
(c) The 1930s.
(d) The 1920s.

7. Which is NOT a reason Mencken gives for admiring Theodore Dreiser?
(a) Dreiser's unique place in the world of literature.
(b) Dreiser's insistence on describing every detail of a scene.
(c) The ability for Dreiser to touch a reader on an emotional level.
(d) Dreiser's unchanging subject matter and style.

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

9. Why did Mencken disagree with contemporary assessments of Abraham Lincoln?
(a) Mencken believed a much broader conspiracy was in place in regards to Lincoln's assassination.
(b) Critics praised him as a hero and don't question some dubious sections of his biography.
(c) Critics maligned Lincoln for his handling of the Civil War, and Mencken thinks he did a fine job.
(d) Abraham Lincoln did not get nearly enough credit for freeing the slaves, according to Mencken.

10. What did Mencken wonder about Henry Cabot Lodge?
(a) Why he felt he must belittle everyone around him.
(b) Why he thought he was so superior to everyone.
(c) Why he did not run for president.
(d) Why he did not pick a more noble profession.

11. What was the subject of Walt Whitman's "Democratic Vistas"?
(a) Whitman's faith in the common man to rule himself.
(b) Whitman's argument that republicanism is much preferred to democracy.
(c) The awe-inspiring beauty of several places in America.
(d) Whitman's desire that a class of intellectuals would rise up to rule America.

12. What part of Mencken's work is NOT included in the volume?
(a) Mencken's work on language and grammar.
(b) Mencken's nostalgic musings on Baltimore.
(c) Mencken's esoteric views on art and art history.
(d) Mencken's political discourse of the 1920s.

13. What did Gene the magistrate do with respect to an old man in his court accused of wife beating?
(a) Gene had the court bailiff beat the man, just as he had beat his wife.
(b) Gene threatened the man with made-up punishments to get him to reform.
(c) Gene applauded the man for keeping his wife well-behaved.
(d) Gene put him in jail for two years.

14. What was the name of H. L. Mencken's brother?
(a) Mitch.
(b) Bud.
(c) Charlie.
(d) Jesse.

15. According to Mencken, how did members of the lower class respond to Wilson?
(a) They "clapped like fools" at a recent speech.
(b) They were attracted to his lofty rhetoric.
(c) They responded to his lower class domestic policies.
(d) They threw rotten vegetables at him at the convention.