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

2. According to Mencken, how might Calvin Coolidge had handled the Great Depression?

3. What criticism did Mencken have for a book filled with sayings and writings about death?

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

5. What would best describe Mencken's attitude toward Oliver Wendell Holmes?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

3. How did Mencken--with tongue firmly in cheek--try to justify a man's murdering of his wife in "A Good Man Gone Wrong"?

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

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

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

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

8. What type of people attended the Progressive Party convention of 1948?

9. Why are artists "anti-patriotic," according to Mencken in "The Artist"?

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Mencken's style and tone are widely celebrated. Using several examples from the text, discuss Mencken's approach to style and tone. How does Mencken present himself to the reader? Who does he posit as his reader? What rhetorical devices does he use to persuade the reader of his position?

Essay Topic 2

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?

Essay Topic 3

Mencken discussed perfection in "The Good Man," and states that every good quality in a man is balanced by a flaw.

A) Does Mencken feel that perfection is possible? How can "The Good Man" be reconciled with something like "A Glance Ahead," in which Mencken imagines an ideal government?

B) Is there a danger in attempting perfection?

C) What might Mencken say about perfection and its relation to organized religion?

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