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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. Why did Mencken disagree with contemporary assessments of Abraham Lincoln?
(a) Abraham Lincoln did not get nearly enough credit for freeing the slaves, according to Mencken.
(b) Critics praised him as a hero and don't question some dubious sections of his biography.
(c) Mencken believed a much broader conspiracy was in place in regards to Lincoln's assassination.
(d) Critics maligned Lincoln for his handling of the Civil War, and Mencken thinks he did a fine job.

2. What was the "last straw" that forced Mencken to quit the organization in #16?
(a) The relentless shouting of his gym teacher.
(b) The fact that the running track was rectangular.
(c) An evangelical teen in the reading room.
(d) A painful accident with the horizontal bar.

3. What was the nature of the Prince of Wales story Mencken tells in "The Art Eternal"?
(a) The Prince of Wales framed a murderer he could not imprison by lawful means.
(b) The Prince of Wales lied in order to protect the virtues of a woman.
(c) The Prince of Wales begged for alms, in order to display his humility.
(d) The Prince of Wales stole in order to feed his citizens.

4. What did Mencken think about Lincoln's issuing of the Emancipation Proclamation?
(a) Lincoln delayed releasing the proclamation until a politically-favorable time.
(b) Lincoln issued the proclamation in a desperate and emotionally-troubled state.
(c) Lincoln was tricked into issuing the proclamation by business interests.
(d) Lincoln was doing the bidding of "Black Republicans" by releasing the proclamation.

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

Short Answer Questions

1. In "Gore in the Caribees," how was Jose Miguel captured?

2. In "Gore in the Caribees," what was Mencken's perspective on the revolution in Cuba?

3. Which historical figure did Mencken ridicule by stating he was known as a "plaster saint"?

4. What did Mencken feel about "American thinking"?

5. In which city did Mencken grow up?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

3. What was Mencken's ideal form of government?

4. What was Mencken's remedy for curing the ills of modern religions?

5. Why do men usually marry women who are "basically hideous"?

6. What was the nature of Mencken's first memory, as described in "Introduction to the Universe"?

7. What criticisms did Mencken have for Theodore Dreiser?

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

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

10. What criticisms did Mencken level at General John Pershing?

(see the answer keys)

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