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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 did Mencken call for in "Mencken's Last Stand"?

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

3. Which was NOT a challenge to the schoolboy Mencken mentioned in "Travail"?

4. Complete the following aphorism found in "Sententiae": "Adultery is..."

5. What aspect of death did Mencken find most interesting?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. Describe the religious service Mencken witnessed in "The Hills of Zion."

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

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

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

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

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

8. What stance did Mencken take in "Mencken's Last Stand"?

9. What was Mencken's opinion of chiropractic?

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Democracy was mentioned in "A Blind Spot" and "A Glance Ahead," among other articles. What is Mencken's attitude toward democracy? What are the consequences of a democratic form of government? How does democracy succeed (or fail) because of (or despite) the common people?

Essay Topic 2

Mencken could be said to operate from an anti-war stance, as in "Star-Spangled Man."

A) How does Mencken make this bias clear? Cite examples from the text.

B) What is Mencken's opinion of World War I? How was the war started? Why might it have been prevented?

C) Is Mencken's anti-war bias explicit or implicit? Cite examples.

Essay Topic 3

Beauty and ugliness were topics of the articles "The Lure of Beauty" and "The Libido of the Ugly."

A) How does Mencken define beauty? How is beauty related to art criticism?

B) Is beauty objective or subjective? Cite examples in the text of how Mencken might answer this question.

C) How is beauty related to physical attraction?

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