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

Multiple Choice Questions

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

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

3. According to Mencken, why was Samuel Johnson unique as an artist?
(a) He never turned against his country, unlike all artists.
(b) He always gave to charity, and artists are infamous misers.
(c) He has a particularly thrilling prose style.
(d) He never cared about his own fame or legacy.

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

5. What did Mencken conclude in his examination of rulings in "Mr. Justice Holmes"?
(a) Mencken slyly suggests Holmes should tuck chickens under his arms because of his chicken-like cowardice.
(b) Justice Holmes ruled too often for rabble-rousers, and not often enough for the aristocracy.
(c) Justice Holmes rendered fantastically bizarre rulings, and should be impeached.
(d) Justice Holmes ruled too often in favor of the powers that be, rather than the people.

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

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

8. What was Roosevelt's strategy at the Democratic National Convention of 1932?
(a) Roosevelt had a comic struggle to obtain the highest podium, so he might look the tallest.
(b) He wished to delay as much as possible, and honor every minor parliamentary procedure.
(c) He wished to bribe key officials for the nomination.
(d) He wished to rush motions through and bypass parliamentary procedures.

9. Why was early Christianity superior to modern Christianity, per "Holy Writ"?
(a) Services took place in cold places, to ensure better concentration.
(b) Early Christianity had a less strict interpretation of Biblical stories.
(c) It featured more moral instructions.
(d) It featured a lot less sermonizing.

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

11. Which of the following was NOT an attribute of an artist, as Mencken describes in "The Artist"?
(a) The artist is more sensitive to his environment than normal people.
(b) The artist is patriotic.
(c) The artist turns against his country and countrymen.
(d) The artist is more easily wounded.

12. Why did Mencken call democracy a "self-limiting disease"?
(a) Members of the Democratic Party inflict damage on themselves through numerous scandals.
(b) Democracy achieves equality, and once equality is achieved, democracy has nothing to accomplish.
(c) Democracy does damage, but the damage it can do is limited.
(d) Democracy is able to place limits on the power of politicians.

13. What was unique to the American psyche according to Mencken in "Libido for the Ugly"?
(a) A tendency to be rude and loud during movie screenings.
(b) An obsession with staying thin.
(c) A queer fascination with ugliness.
(d) Sexual arousal when viewing art objects.

14. What would best describe Mencken's attitude toward Oliver Wendell Holmes?
(a) His rulings were thoroughly corrupt.
(b) He was a quack chiropractor.
(c) He was a Liberal hero in name only.
(d) He was a fantastic advocate of progressive causes.

15. How did Mencken describe the music of Chopin?
(a) "Genesis I, I"
(b) "Two embalmers at work upon a minor poet."
(c) "Silver macaroni, exquisitely tangled."
(d) A dozen wind chimes in a hurricane."

Short Answer Questions

1. Why might the Anglo-Saxon race have entered into the Spanish-American war, according to Mencken?

2. Which of the following was NOT a name applied to William Jennings Bryan by Mencken?

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

4. Which of the following is a trait of the Anglo-Saxon race, per "The Anglo-Saxon"?

5. According to Mencken, how might Calvin Coolidge had handled the Great Depression?

(see the answer keys)

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