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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 criticism did Mencken have for a book filled with sayings and writings about death?
(a) The book had three quotations attributed to the contemptible Oliver Wendell Holmes.
(b) The book failed to include the work of Theodore Dreiser.
(c) The book failed to mention music at all.
(d) The book had nothing from the ancient Greeks.

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

3. What was the general atmosphere of the Democratic National Convention of 1932, as reported by Mencken?
(a) Like Mafia men meeting at a restaurant, as the politicians are all corrupt.
(b) Stuffy and mannered.
(c) Quiet, like a gentlemen's club.
(d) A complete circus.

4. In "Valentino," what did the press find in a men's bathroom that caused them to mock Valentino and his "Latin Lover" image?
(a) Pink talcum-powder.
(b) Underwear with a hole in it.
(c) A bar of lavender-scented soap-on-a-rope.
(d) Women's perfume.

5. Which of the following describes an Anglo-Saxon soldier, according to Mencken?
(a) A remarkable physical constitution.
(b) A strong sense of tactics as well as strategy.
(c) A cowardice and ready willingness to desert.
(d) A tendency to be able to bore the enemy to death with a long speech.

Short Answer Questions

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

2. What memorable simile did Mencken use for Grover Cleveland?

3. Why, according to Mencken, do virtuous people end up sinning the worst?

4. Which was NOT a reason Mencken used in his assessment that houses are ugly in "The Libido for the Ugly"?

5. Complete the following aphorism found in "Sententiae": "Democracy is..."

Short Essay Questions

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

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

3. In "The Noble Experiment," what story did Mencken relate about acquiring alcohol at the Republican National Convention?

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

5. What did Mencken feel were the true and most damaging consequences of the Civil War, according to "The Calamity of Appomattox"?

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

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

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

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

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

(see the answer keys)

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