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This test consists of 5 short answer questions and 1 (of 3) essay topics.
Short Answer Questions
1. What language does the formalism of English grammarians come from?
2. What does Mencken say, in colloquial American, has obliterated the verb?
3. Which reporter first brings colloquial Americanisms to the written word, according to Mencken in Chapter 9.2?
4. In what dialect of English is "slick" used synonymously with "sleek" according to Chapter 9.10?
5. What was the Anglo-Saxon form of the modern-day word "my," according to Mencken in Chapter 9.4?
Essay Topics
Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:
Essay Topic 1
Although American had changed drastically by the time Mencken wrote The American Language, in 1921, it has clearly changed drastically since then, as well. Examine, in an analytical essay, some of the more significant changes since then. What new words have come into popular usage? What then popular Americanisms have faded out almost altogether? Has the language changed as significantly since 1921 as it did between any other comparable span of time? If so, defend your answer with specific examples. Finally, what is the characteristic of the American language as revealed by comparing its present state with that it was characterized by Mencken as having when he wrote The American Language?
Essay Topic 2
Write an essay analyzing the nature of the relationship between the "melting pot" of American immigrant assimilation and the nomenclature that permeates the country. What are the evident influences of foreign languages on American names? How are these names Americanized? What is the general tendency of American-speakers in the employment and application of names to places and people? To what degree are the various names Americanized? What is the cause of Americanization of names? What is its result and what does it indicate about the American spirit?
Essay Topic 3
An important distinction, which Mencken makes in discussing the nature of the American language, is between the proper speech of literate Americans and the common speech of what he calls the proletariat. Write an essay discussing this distinction and its ultimate significance. According to what Mencken has written, is there a genuine distinction between the two? Which of the two does Mencken appear to favor? What are the strengths and weaknesses of each, the proper and the improper, the formal and the informal? What arguments may be made in defense of each?
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This section contains 390 words (approx. 2 pages at 300 words per page) |
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