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This test consists of 5 short answer questions and 1 (of 3) essay topics.
Short Answer Questions
1. In what parts of language does Mencken say the "chief grammatical peculiarities" of spoken English are found?
2. How does Mencken characterize the vulgar American habitual use of the double negative?
3. Over how many post offices does Mencken state bear the adjective "New"?
4. According to Dr. Louise Pound, what do Latin plurals tend to become in colloquial American?
5. Which case of the noun in English yet has an inflection at the time of Mencken's writing?
Essay Topics
Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:
Essay Topic 1
Through what Mencken claims concerning the nature of slang, in Chapter 11, it could be construed as a microcosm of The American Language as a whole. Write an essay investigating this claim. What are the chief characteristics of any linguistic development? What are the chief characteristics of the development of slang? How are they alike? How are they different? What processes do they undergo? What is significant and mutually relevant in these processes?
Essay Topic 2
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?
Essay Topic 3
Write an essay investigating the various ways in which language can diverge into two or more dialects, using the principles found in Mencken's The American Language. What are the principal sources of its divergences? What are the primary ways in which it actually diverges? What characterizes these divergences? How is this shown, particularly, in the American dialect?
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This section contains 342 words (approx. 2 pages at 300 words per page) |
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