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

Multiple Choice Questions

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

2. Complete the following aphorism found in "Sententiae": "Democracy is..."
(a) "...the theory that the common people know what they want, and deserve to get it good and hard."
(b) "...the application of love to money. Everybody's love."
(c) "...the weapon waved by the fairer sex."
(d) "...the Declaration of Independence after a trip to the dentist for a full root canal."

3. What might Mencken say was Grover Cleveland's defining trait?
(a) A lust for life.
(b) Stubbornness.
(c) Political acumen.
(d) Intelligence.

4. In "The Hills of Zion," why did a woman warn against the reading of books?
(a) Only a congregation's preacher should take on the responsibility of reading.
(b) She believed that books are full of snakes and corn cobs.
(c) Reading would require too much effort.
(d) She asked, What knowledge could exist outside of the Bible?

5. Which of the following was NOT a name applied to William Jennings Bryan by Mencken?
(a) Mountebank.
(b) Charlatan.
(c) Yellow-bellied sapsucker.
(d) Fly-catcher.

6. What was Calvin Coolidge's chief trait, according to Mencken?
(a) "A hide as tough as a rhinoceros, and a horn to match."
(b) "A great appetite for jams and jellies."
(c) "A terrific ability to arrive at the wrong place, but at the right time."
(d) "Self-induced narcolepsy."

7. What was the point of the section, "Sententiae"?
(a) It was a collection of humorous and witty Mencken sayings.
(b) Mencken attempted to get a judge thrown off a case.
(c) It was a personal letter from Mencken to his wife, in order to show Mencken's softer side.
(d) Mencken railed against the European royal class.

8. According to Mencken, what if there had not been a Civil War in the United States?
(a) The South would have gotten rid of slavery anyway.
(b) The South would have retained slavery as an institution.
(c) The South would have been devastated economically.
(d) The South would be a desolate place full of "cow towns" with no culture.

9. Who were the two attorneys in the Scopes monkey trial?
(a) William Jennings Bryan and Clarence Darrow.
(b) William Jennings Bryan and Andrew Still.
(c) Theodore Dreiser and John Pershing.
(d) Clarence Darrow and Henry Cabot Lodge.

10. Complete the following aphorism found in "Sententiae": "Adultery is..."
(a) "...a willingness to get what's yours."
(b) "...like a marriage with a bad cold."
(c) "...the application of democracy to love."
(d) "...the destruction of love, life, and money."

11. Which of the following is a trait of the Anglo-Saxon race, per "The Anglo-Saxon"?
(a) Bravery.
(b) Weak will.
(c) Cultural superiority.
(d) Intelligence.

12. What criticism did Mencken have for a book filled with sayings and writings about death?
(a) The book had nothing from the ancient Greeks.
(b) The book failed to mention music at all.
(c) The book failed to include the work of Theodore Dreiser.
(d) The book had three quotations attributed to the contemptible Oliver Wendell Holmes.

13. Which of the following did NOT happen during "The Hills of Zion"?
(a) A preacher appeared to strangle a woman to death before he miraculously "cures" her.
(b) A young woman went into convulsions.
(c) The preacher began to speak in tongues.
(d) A woman warned against reading books.

14. What problem did Mencken have with Justice Holmes' final court case?
(a) Holmes delivered an hour-long, and completely unnecessary, speech when rendering his verdict.
(b) The case violated the writ of Habeus Corpus.
(c) The case involved a tainted jury pool.
(d) The case was a clear violation of freedom from double jeopardy.

15. What memorable simile did Mencken use for Grover Cleveland?
(a) Cleveland was like a newborn babe gazing at the stars for the first time.
(b) Cleveland was like a fragile butterfly with wings of dynamite.
(c) Cleveland was like a steel ship loaded with monoliths of granite.
(d) Cleveland was like a crocodile waiting to snap his jaws around the American public.

Short Answer Questions

1. What was NOT a feature of chiropractors, according to "Chiropractic"?

2. How did Mencken appraise Valentino in their dinner meeting?

3. In "Travail," how did the boys going to school in the morning seem to Mencken?

4. How was plutocracy created, according to Mencken?

5. What was Mencken's opinion of Gothic architecture?

(see the answer keys)

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