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This quiz consists of 5 multiple choice and 5 short answer questions through 5-9.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What does Mencken state about the literary influence(s) of Theodore Dreiser?
(a) Dreiser draws upon the literary tradition of Germany.
(b) No one author can be pointed to as an influence.
(c) Dreiser was the product of Frank Norris.
(d) Dreiser was the product of Emile Zola.

2. Which decade, according to the author, was Mencken at his best?
(a) The 1930s.
(b) The 1920s.
(c) The 1910s.
(d) The 1940s.

3. In "The Baltimore of the Eighties," why does Mencken's mother lament about a trip to the market?
(a) Mencken had stolen some penny candy.
(b) A pickpocket had stolen her purse.
(c) The vendors had started charging for roe.
(d) The price of crabs had doubled.

4. According to Mencken, what kind of books did Theodore Dreiser produce?
(a) Books more important as museum pieces than texts that should be read.
(b) Wheezing, moralizing diatribes.
(c) Breezy, summer-day reading.
(d) Weighty, substantial tomes that one must concentrate on for a long time.

5. What was the name of H. L. Mencken's brother?
(a) Jesse.
(b) Mitch.
(c) Bud.
(d) Charlie.

Short Answer Questions

1. Who was the president of Cuba when Mencken visited the country in "Gore in the Caribees"?

2. According to the editor, why were the 1930s Mencken's "downfall"?

3. How was Theodore Dreiser like Joseph Conrad, according to Mencken?

4. In "Recollections of Notable Cops," why does Mencken find the idea of a police academy remarkable?

5. What was the subject of the first Mencken-written article that was ever published?

(see the answer key)

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