View a FREE sample

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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What does Mencken state about the literary influence(s) of Theodore Dreiser?
(a) Dreiser was the product of Emile Zola.
(b) Dreiser was the product of Frank Norris.
(c) No one author can be pointed to as an influence.
(d) Dreiser draws upon the literary tradition of Germany.

2. What did Mencken, somewhat tongue-in-cheek, feel about the tradition of giving medals in the military?
(a) Medals should be given only at the conclusion of career service.
(b) Medals should be given on a daily basis, because every day soldiers sacrifice.
(c) Medals should be given to common soldiers, and not just generals.
(d) Medals should be reserved just for generals, as the "idea men" of the military.

3. Charlie the policeman was charged with which task, in "Recollections of Notable Cops"?
(a) Finding and arresting at least a dozen drunkards every shift.
(b) Organizing the annual policeman's ball.
(c) Recruiting craftsmen to refurbish the jail.
(d) Investigating a serial pursesnatcher.

4. Which man did Mencken dub the "Star-Spangled Man"?
(a) John Pershing.
(b) George Washington.
(c) William Jennings Bryan.
(d) Woodrow Wilson.

5. Which was NOT one of the reasons why a Christian wouldn't man cheat on his wife, according to "The Libertine"?
(a) He had a conscience to tell him no.
(b) He was too fatigued by all the Christian rules he must follow.
(c) He didn't have the money to support a mistress.
(d) He didn't have the courage.

Short Answer Questions

1. According to Mencken, what kind of books did Theodore Dreiser produce?

2. According to "Quid Est Veritas?," what kind of religion professes to know God exactly and completely?

3. What does Mencken call a man who resists the charms of women?

4. What cheeky nickname did Mencken give Theodore Dreiser?

5. According to "The Skeptic," what do women always bear?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

3. What was the chief problem of a Baltimore summer, according to Mencken in "The Baltimore of the Eighties"?

4. Instead of military generals, who did Mencken wish to award medals to in "Star-Spangled Man"?

5. How must men react to a woman's allure?

6. Why did Alistair Cooke feel that Mencken experienced a "downfall" in the 1930s?

7. In "A Blind Spot," why was Mencken impervious to the ills of democracy?

8. What was Mencken's opinion of Ralph Waldo Emerson's "The American Scholar"?

9. What criticisms did Mencken have for Theodore Dreiser?

10. Why was 1880s Baltimore such a loud town?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 896 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample