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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 Calvin Coolidge's chief trait, according to Mencken?
(a) "A hide as tough as a rhinoceros, and a horn to match."
(b) "A great appetite for jams and jellies."
(c) "A terrific ability to arrive at the wrong place, but at the right time."
(d) "Self-induced narcolepsy."

2. What aspect of old-time education did Mencken miss most in modern education?
(a) The insistence on only male teachers.
(b) The charm of the one-room schoolhouse.
(c) Corporal punishment.
(d) The tolling of the dinner triangle.

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

4. In "Travail," how did the boys going to school in the morning seem to Mencken?
(a) Tired and sad.
(b) Upbeat and joyous.
(c) Energetic and hopeful.
(d) Like they might someday conquer the world.

5. What would best describe Mencken's attitude toward Oliver Wendell Holmes?
(a) His rulings were thoroughly corrupt.
(b) He was a Liberal hero in name only.
(c) He was a fantastic advocate of progressive causes.
(d) He was a quack chiropractor.

Short Answer Questions

1. Who was Mencken referring to with the title, "A Good Man in a Bad Trade"?

2. Who did Mencken NOT count among the "crackpots" present in "The Wallace Paranoia"?

3. What was the source of Oliver Wendell Holmes' allure?

4. According to Mencken, what if there had not been a Civil War in the United States?

5. What was Mencken's phrase for religious fundamentalism?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

3. What aspect of death interested Mencken the most?

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

5. What opinion was rendered about William Jennings Bryan in "In Memoriam: W.J.B."?

6. According to "The Wallace Paranoia," what did candidate Henry Wallace do during the convention of the Progressive Party?

7. For what reasons did Mencken admire Grover Cleveland?

8. 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?

9. According to Mencken in "The Calamity of Appomattox," what would have happened if the Civil War had never happened?

10. What caused Mencken to question the American psyche in "The Libido for the Ugly"?

(see the answer keys)

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