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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. How was Theodore Dreiser like Joseph Conrad, according to Mencken?

2. What criticism did Mencken have for the effect of the Emancipation Proclamation?

3. What kind of presence did Henry Cabot Lodge have, according to Mencken?

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

5. What cheeky nickname did Mencken give Theodore Dreiser?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. What circumstances drove Mencken away from attending the Y. M. C. A.?

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

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

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

6. What was Gene the magistrate's approach to law and justice in "Recollections of Notable Cops"?

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

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

9. What was accomplished by Walt Whitman's "Democratic Vistas," according to Mencken?

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Mencken often mentions the idea of an American aristocracy, as in "The National Letters." What could an American aristocracy accomplish, to Mencken's mind? How does Mencken's ideas for the aristocracy relate to his opinions about intellectuals versus common people? What kinds of government systems does he compare the aristocracy to?

Essay Topic 2

The nature of art, and especially of writing, is a subject that concerned Mencken.

A) What argument does Mencken make in "The Artist"? How is this argument related to Mencken's anti-war stance?

B) What argument does Mencken make in "The Author at Work"? How are we to reconcile his argument with the fact that, naturally, Mencken is himself a writer?

Essay Topic 3

Mencken mused about death in "Exeunt Omnes."

A) What was the aspect of death which interested Mencken the most?

B) How might "Exeunt Omnes" help us understand Mencken's anti-war stance? How does Mencken's attitude toward death relate to his anti-war stance?

C) Per Mencken's own apparent attitude, what might Mencken tell his readers is the best attitude to have toward death and mortality?

(see the answer keys)

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