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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Which historical figure did Mencken ridicule by stating he was known as a "plaster saint"?
(a) Theodore Dreiser.
(b) Abraham Lincoln.
(c) George Washington.
(d) Napoleon Bonaparte.

2. What cheeky nickname did Mencken give Theodore Dreiser?
(a) The Jack Ripper of the novel.
(b) The Clown Prince of prose.
(c) The Hindenburg of the novel.
(d) The Frankenstein of the short story.

3. What was Alistair Cooke's relationship to H. L. Mencken?
(a) A childhood acquaintance.
(b) A poet whom Mencken greatly admires.
(c) A political enemy.
(d) A journalist and friend.

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

5. What did Mencken think about monogamy, as revealed in "Cavia Cobaya"?
(a) Monogamy was the laughable product of democracy.
(b) Functionally, monogamy was the same as polygamy, because everyone cheats.
(c) Monogamy stifled the natural urgings of a man.
(d) Great men aspired to and achieved it.

6. According to Mencken, what kind of books did Theodore Dreiser produce?
(a) Books more important as museum pieces than texts that should be read.
(b) Breezy, summer-day reading.
(c) Wheezing, moralizing diatribes.
(d) Weighty, substantial tomes that one must concentrate on for a long time.

7. What does Mencken state about the literary influence(s) of Theodore Dreiser?
(a) Dreiser was the product of Emile Zola.
(b) Dreiser draws upon the literary tradition of Germany.
(c) No one author can be pointed to as an influence.
(d) Dreiser was the product of Frank Norris.

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

9. How did Gene the magistrate handle an overzealous Methodist clergyman?
(a) Gene ruled that religion was essential to the functioning of a democracy.
(b) Gene created trumped-up charges to render him no longer a problem.
(c) Gene ruled that the clergyman was within his rights to practice in the Jewish ghetto.
(d) Gene had policemen follow the clergyman wherever he went.

10. What did Mencken feel about "American thinking"?
(a) It is cautious, yet optimistic.
(b) It is full of awesome promise.
(c) It is timid and superficial.
(d) It is bold and visionary.

11. Why does the typical man have a poor conception of beauty?
(a) Even a man's enemy will tell him his wife is pretty.
(b) The entire world, with very few exceptions, is hideously ugly.
(c) Make-up is made with a chemical that confuses the brain.
(d) Even mirrors are manufactured to lie about a woman's beauty.

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

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

14. What must modern religions do to "escape absurdity"?
(a) They must disband immediately.
(b) They must allow gay marriage.
(c) They should encourage a much more relaxed church service.
(d) They should accept a small element of agnosticism.

15. 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 didn't know the theory of their arts, but nonetheless they produce valuable work.
(c) Dreiser and Schubert both created work that is "lighter than air."
(d) Dreiser and Schubert exhibited an uncommon and sometimes perverse imagination.

Short Answer Questions

1. What was "The Art Eternal" according to Mencken?

2. In "The Good Man," what general statement did Mencken make about mankind?

3. What was Theodore Dreiser's national and ethnic background?

4. Which is NOT one of the reasons winters were difficult in 1880s Baltimore?

5. Who is the editor of this volume?

(see the answer keys)

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