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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What is a man's usual response to beauty?
(a) Lust.
(b) Indifference.
(c) Romantic affection.
(d) Highly-violent behavior.

2. What organization did Mencken's father force him to join at age fourteen?
(a) The Junior Achievement League.
(b) The Boy Scouts of America.
(c) The Baptist Church.
(d) Y.M.C.A.

3. In "Recollections of Notable Cops," why does Mencken find the idea of a police academy remarkable?
(a) Academies usually teach useless skills; police academies teach useful skills.
(b) Mencken states that police academies are contrary to the ideals of democracy.
(c) Mencken regards policemen as corrupt, vicious brutes.
(d) Cops in Mencken's younger days were not educated.

4. What does Mencken call a man who resists the charms of women?
(a) An exceedingly wise stone statue.
(b) A most distinguished gentleman.
(c) A most rare beast indeed.
(d) A most disgusting cad.

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

Short Answer Questions

1. What one thing did Mencken feel was useful from the contributions of Sigmund Freud?

2. Which boat captain helped Mencken while in Cuba?

3. Which historical figure did Mencken ridicule by stating he was known as a "plaster saint"?

4. In which city did Mencken grow up?

5. What was the name of H. L. Mencken's brother?

Short Essay Questions

1. What questions did Mencken raise about the contemporary understanding of Abraham Lincoln?

2. What was Mencken's ideal form of government?

3. What is the difference between men and women in regards to trust, according to "The Skeptic"?

4. According to Mencken, why would a Christian man not cheat on his wife, according to "The Libertine"?

5. What was Gene the magistrate's approach to law and justice in "Recollections of Notable Cops"?

6. Why did Mencken criticize Woodrow Wilson?

7. What was Mencken's opinion about Henry Cabot Lodge?

8. What circumstances drove Mencken away from attending the Y. M. C. A.?

9. In "Gore in the Caribees," what becames of the rebel leader, Jose Miguel Gomez?

10. What criticisms did Mencken have for Theodore Dreiser?

(see the answer keys)

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