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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

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

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

3. What does Mencken make synonymous with democracy in "A Blind Spot"?
(a) Hedonism.
(b) Totalitarianism.
(c) Puritanism.
(d) Agnosticism.

4. 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.

5. Why do "handsome men" deserve suspicion?
(a) The human body is inherently ugly.
(b) They are terrible conversationalists.
(c) They are "ugly" inside.
(d) They are always self-serving and vain.

Short Answer Questions

1. What must modern religions do to "escape absurdity"?

2. In "Star-Spangled Man," Mencken argued that who, besides soldiers, should get medals?

3. Which was NOT a source of terrible smell in the Baltimore of the 1880s, according to Mencken?

4. Which was NOT a feature of the ideal aristocracy, according to Mencken?

5. According to Mencken, what was the Union fighting for in the Civil War?

Short Essay Questions

1. What was Gene the magistrate's approach to law and justice in "Recollections of Notable Cops"?

2. Why did Mencken criticize Woodrow Wilson?

3. What criticisms did Mencken have for Theodore Dreiser?

4. How did Mencken answer the question of whether successful men should have mistresses?

5. What was accomplished by Walt Whitman's "Democratic Vistas," according to Mencken?

6. What is democracy's aim, in "A Blind Spot"? What is a crime in the eyes of democracy?

7. What questions did Mencken raise about the contemporary understanding of Abraham Lincoln?

8. What is the difference between men and women in regards to trust, according to "The Skeptic"?

9. According to Mencken, Theodore Dreiser had what emotional effect on the reader?

10. What circumstances drove Mencken away from attending the Y. M. C. A.?

(see the answer keys)

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