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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. In which city did Mencken grow up?
(a) Baltimore.
(b) Washington, D.C.
(c) Cincinnati.
(d) Pittsburgh.

2. In "The National Letters," what was the cause of all the "diseases" which afflict America?
(a) Organized religion.
(b) The presumption of guilt, rather than innocence, in legal matters.
(c) The lack of a proper diet.
(d) The lack of a stable aristocracy.

3. What human flaw does democracy depend upon, according to Mencken?
(a) Rage.
(b) Vanity.
(c) Envy.
(d) Greed.

4. Which boat captain helped Mencken while in Cuba?
(a) Ignacio.
(b) Demetrio.
(c) Leonhard.
(d) Menocal.

5. According to the editor, why were the 1930s Mencken's "downfall"?
(a) Mencken's severe illness limited his output.
(b) Mencken spent most of the decade in Europe.
(c) President FDR waged a battle of personal attacks against Mencken.
(d) The hardships in the country changed popular sentiment.

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

7. Which was NOT a source of terrible smell in the Baltimore of the 1880s, according to Mencken?
(a) The Back Basin.
(b) The glue factory.
(c) The St. Helen's insane asylum.
(d) Wilkins Hair Factory.

8. What one thing did Mencken feel was useful from the contributions of Sigmund Freud?
(a) The notion that lying stemmed from an unconscious place.
(b) The notion that people could be easily hypnotized.
(c) The notion that "mother issues" were deeply-seated.
(d) The notion that dreams could reveal aspects of our everyday lives.

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

10. In "Gore in the Caribees," what was Mencken's perspective on the revolution in Cuba?
(a) Mencken refused to cover the event, and is fired by his newspaper.
(b) Mencken thought it is newsworthy, and he asks to cover it.
(c) Mencken thought the event is not newsworthy, and only reluctantly does he travel to cover it.
(d) Mencken was fervently pro-Cuba, and travels to the country to engage in propaganda.

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

12. Which was NOT a source of loud noise in the Baltimore of the 1880s, according to Mencken?
(a) Children singing and yelling in the streets.
(b) Penny candy vendors hawking their candy.
(c) Iron tires hitting hard cobblestone streets.
(d) Barking dogs.

13. What was the subject of the first Mencken-written article that was ever published?
(a) The gold standard.
(b) A horse robbery.
(c) Political discontent in Europe.
(d) A high-society party.

14. Charlie the policeman was charged with which task, in "Recollections of Notable Cops"?
(a) Recruiting craftsmen to refurbish the jail.
(b) Investigating a serial pursesnatcher.
(c) Finding and arresting at least a dozen drunkards every shift.
(d) Organizing the annual policeman's ball.

15. Why shouldn't men trust other men?
(a) Men can be subject to temptation, and thus betrayal.
(b) Men lie constantly.
(c) Men are only interested in accumulating wealth.
(d) Men can become violent at any moment.

Short Answer Questions

1. What moral choice faced Mencken and a cop on New Year's Day, in "Recollections of Notable Cops"?

2. Which was NOT one of the reasons why a Christian wouldn't man cheat on his wife, according to "The Libertine"?

3. In "The Baltimore of the Eighties," why does Mencken's mother lament about a trip to the market?

4. According to "The Incomparable Buzz-Saw," what is a woman's only power?

5. What did Gene the magistrate do with respect to an old man in his court accused of wife beating?

(see the answer keys)

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