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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 might Mencken say about Calvin Coolidge?
(a) Coolidge was a practical agnostic.
(b) Coolidge pulled himself up from the most meager of upbringings.
(c) Coolidge was as energetic a man as ever graced the White House.
(d) Coolidge was deeply flawed, precisely because of his Presbyterian upbringing.

2. Who started chiropractic, according to Mencken?
(a) Alistair Cooke.
(b) Andrew Still.
(c) William Jennings Bryan.
(d) Dr. William Bayle Howard.

3. What aspect of death did Mencken find most interesting?
(a) The physiological and chemical processes involved in death.
(b) How so often people die not gloriously or with grace, but ridiculously.
(c) How people are able to find God so quickly on their death bed.
(d) What the great poets have said about death.

4. What was "lamentable" about the North beating the South in the Civil War, according to Mencken?
(a) The quality of tobacco was never the same.
(b) The slaves were freed.
(c) The South's aristocracy was destroyed.
(d) Technological innovation was delayed by 25 years.

5. What event did Mencken cover in "The Wallace Paranoia"?
(a) The Progressive Party convention.
(b) The marriage of a governor.
(c) The New York World's Fair.
(d) A socialite's ball.

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

7. What was the subject of the Scopes monkey trial?
(a) The kidnapping of a chimpanzee.
(b) The teaching of evolution.
(c) A treasonous plot to help a Central American country.
(d) The assault of a zoo heckler by a gorilla.

8. Which was NOT a challenge to the schoolboy Mencken mentioned in "Travail"?
(a) They were taught lessons no one has an interest in.
(b) They were forced to be babysat against their will.
(c) They were trying to learn things that are above their intellectual ability.
(d) They were taught by teachers they don't respect.

9. To what degree has "new architecture" impacted America?
(a) It hasn't reached American shores yet, and Mencken pleads with Europe to let America "borrow" it.
(b) It has come to dominate America, much to Mencken's delight.
(c) It has come to dominate America, much to Mencken's chagrin.
(d) It has not had much of an impact.

10. Which of the following was true in regard to statements made by Mencken about chiropractic?
(a) Chiropractic sprang from a perversion of brain science.
(b) The deaths of chiropractic patients was welcome, as it would mean less stupid people in the world.
(c) Chiropractors were made up of intellectual heavyweights and aristocrats.
(d) There was no, and would never be, any beneficial effect of chiropractic.

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

12. What was the subject of Mencken's final published article?
(a) A court case tinged with racism.
(b) The murder of an adulterous housewife.
(c) The "newest quackery" of household appliances.
(d) A horse robbery.

13. What was NOT a feature of chiropractors, according to "Chiropractic"?
(a) They had a good deal of anatomical knowledge.
(b) They did no good, and may in fact cause harm.
(c) They were retired baseball players or piano movers.
(d) They were quacks.

14. According to "Exeunt Omnes," Mencken was disappointed with the amount of books dedicated to which subject?
(a) Taxes.
(b) Adultery.
(c) Death.
(d) Democracy.

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

Short Answer Questions

1. What point did Mencken make when referring to the picture of a French soldier who was deformed with multiple amputations in war?

2. What was the nature of the analogy Mencken uses involving Oliver Wendell Holmes, a hammer, and a feather?

3. According to Mencken, why was Samuel Johnson unique as an artist?

4. What was the function of the Bill of Rights, per "Mr. Justice Holmes"?

5. In "The Hills of Zion," why did a woman warn against the reading of books?

(see the answer keys)

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