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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 the subject of "The Noble Experiment"?
(a) A scientific breakthrough Mencken reported on.
(b) The Cuban revolution.
(c) Drinking during Prohibition.
(d) Voting during World War I.

2. 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 fantastic advocate of progressive causes.
(d) He was a Liberal hero in name only.

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

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

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

Short Answer Questions

1. In "Valentino," what did the press find in a men's bathroom that caused them to mock Valentino and his "Latin Lover" image?

2. How would Mencken respond to the notion that William Jennings Bryan was an earnest man?

3. What theoretical scenario did Mencken pose in "The Calamity of Appomattox"?

4. How was plutocracy created, according to Mencken?

5. What was Mencken's opinion of Gothic architecture?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why did Mencken take issue with Oliver Wendell Holmes' final court case?

2. According to "The Author at Work," why do writers write?

3. In "Exeunt Omnes," Mencken described his second book on death, which has collected sayings and thoughts on death. What did Mencken maintain was the main idea of the book?

4. What was Mencken's opinion of chiropractic?

5. What opinions did Mencken render in "Masters of Tone"?

6. What were the general features of Anglo-Saxons, according to Mencken in "The Anglo-Saxon"?

7. Contemporaries wrote that Calvin Coolidge bore several similarities to Abraham Lincoln. Why did Mencken disagree with this claim?

8. What did Mencken conclude about his research into the court cases of Oliver Wendell Holmes?

9. What was Mencken's opinion of stage acting?

10. Did Mencken's aesthetics conform to the ideals of the "new architecture"? Explain.

(see the answer keys)

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