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

2. Per "Mr. Justice Holmes," which of the following might Mencken say about the legislature as a state organization?

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

4. Why did Mencken call democracy a "self-limiting disease"?

5. Which of the following is NOT something that exists as a result of the Anglo-Saxon race, according to Mencken?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. How did Mencken distinguish between plutocracy and aristocracy in "A Glance Ahead"?

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

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

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

6. What opinion did Mencken have about the English translation of the Bible?

7. What was the content of "Sententiae"?

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

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

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

"Gore in the Caribees" had Mencken doing some foreign reporting in Cuba.

A) What is Mencken's opinion of the Cuban administration? What is his opinion of the rebellion?

B) What can the incident tell us about Mencken's general opinions about ideal government, and how to rule properly?

Essay Topic 2

What was Mencken's perspective on education? Is there a difference between education done in school, and education derived from "real life" so to speak? How does Mencken view his lack of a college education? What does Mencken see as the problem with modern school-based education?

Essay Topic 3

Man-woman relationships were a frequent topic of study, as in "The Art Eternal" and "The Incomparable Buzz-Saw." How does Mencken view the dynamic between men and women? What are the differences between men and women? In what way do men and women engage in courtship?

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