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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) A tradition of cultural superiority.
(b) The Ku Klux Klan.
(c) The slaughter of American Indians.
(d) Fundamentalism.

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

3. 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 in favor of the powers that be, rather than the people.
(c) Justice Holmes rendered fantastically bizarre rulings, and should be impeached.
(d) Justice Holmes ruled too often for rabble-rousers, and not often enough for the aristocracy.

4. According to Mencken, how might Calvin Coolidge had handled the Great Depression?
(a) By sleeping through it.
(b) By nationalizing many sectors of the economy.
(c) By cowering under his desk.
(d) By taking a more active role than FDR ever had.

5. 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) Chiropractors were made up of intellectual heavyweights and aristocrats.
(c) The deaths of chiropractic patients was welcome, as it would mean less stupid people in the world.
(d) There was no, and would never be, any beneficial effect of chiropractic.

6. In "The Wallace Paranoia," who was Mencken referring to with the phrase "raisins in the bread."
(a) Bible-belt evangelists.
(b) Sweet, young ladies amid a bunch of old men.
(c) Extremists and the mentally unstable.
(d) Honorable, career politicians.

7. According to "The New Architecture," when will Man have "built his own prison"?
(a) When he replaces Gothic architecture with Modernist architecture.
(b) When new architecture is replaced by neoclassical architecture.
(c) When Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania is not heralded as a champion of new design.
(d) When people build houses using the style of English Eighteenth Century.

8. Which is the best style of architecture, according to Mencken?
(a) Modernism.
(b) Futurism.
(c) English Eighteenth Century.
(d) Art Nouveau.

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

10. What was Roosevelt's strategy at the Democratic National Convention of 1932?
(a) He wished to rush motions through and bypass parliamentary procedures.
(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) Roosevelt had a comic struggle to obtain the highest podium, so he might look the tallest.

11. Who was FDR's chief opponent in the Democratic Convention of 1932?
(a) Al Smith.
(b) William Randolph Hearst.
(c) Henry Cabot Lodge.
(d) Woodrow Wilson.

12. How did Mencken appraise Valentino in their dinner meeting?
(a) Valentino was a brute who did not deserve his fame or money.
(b) Valentino was a genius who would be better suited as a scientist or engineer.
(c) Valentino was a ham actor of the highest order.
(d) Valentino was a noble soul questioning his vulgar acting profession.

13. How did Mencken describe the music of Puccini?
(a) "Two intertwined dogs yapping at each other."
(b) "Silver macaroni, exquisitely tangled."
(c) "Two embalmers at work upon a minor poet."
(d) "A dozen wind chimes in a hurricane."

14. What is wrong, in Mencken's opinion, with most artists' depictions of death?
(a) They never show women dying, only men.
(b) They show death to be dramatic and heroic, which is false.
(c) They are obsessed with death in battle, when death usually happens in the bathtub.
(d) They show death to be pathetic and ridiculous, which is false.

15. How was Mencken able to get a taxi driver to drive him to a speakeasy in Pennsylvania?
(a) He agreed to write an article about the driver.
(b) He threatened the driver with jail time.
(c) He gave the driver a ten dollar bill.
(d) He showed the driver the musical score from a Bach concert.

Short Answer Questions

1. What city was featured in "The Libido for the Ugly"?

2. What memorable simile did Mencken use for Grover Cleveland?

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

4. How do common folk read the Bible, according to Mencken in "Holy Writ"?

5. What might Mencken say was Grover Cleveland's defining trait?

(see the answer keys)

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