View a FREE sample

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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. According to the editor, why were the 1930s Mencken's "downfall"?
(a) The hardships in the country changed popular sentiment.
(b) Mencken spent most of the decade in Europe.
(c) Mencken's severe illness limited his output.
(d) President FDR waged a battle of personal attacks against Mencken.

2. What kind of presence did Henry Cabot Lodge have, according to Mencken?
(a) Lodge was powerful and authoritative.
(b) Lodge was cantankerous and given to bickering.
(c) Lodge was meek and soft-voiced.
(d) Lodge swore often and told dirty jokes, shocking women.

3. What dominated Puritanism, according to Mencken in "The National Letters"?
(a) The simple necessities of food, clothing, and shelter.
(b) Free-thinking men of purpose.
(c) Fear, and the suspicion of art.
(d) Religious tomfoolery.

4. Which was NOT one of the reasons why a Christian wouldn't man cheat on his wife, according to "The Libertine"?
(a) He had a conscience to tell him no.
(b) He was too fatigued by all the Christian rules he must follow.
(c) He didn't have the courage.
(d) He didn't have the money to support a mistress.

5. According to Mencken, what was Christianity's history with lying?
(a) Lying is not expressly forbidden, and is oftentimes even encouraged.
(b) Every sermon uttered by a priest is a lie.
(c) Lying is a great sin before God.
(d) One must lie to oneself in order to adhere to religious beliefs.

Short Answer Questions

1. What did Mencken wonder about Henry Cabot Lodge?

2. What was Theodore Dreiser's national and ethnic background?

3. What did Mencken, somewhat tongue-in-cheek, feel about the tradition of giving medals in the military?

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

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

Short Essay Questions

1. How did Mencken answer the question of whether successful men should have mistresses?

2. What criticisms did Mencken have for Theodore Dreiser?

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

4. What was accomplished by Walt Whitman's "Democratic Vistas," according to Mencken?

5. Why did Alistair Cooke feel that Mencken experienced a "downfall" in the 1930s?

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

7. How did Charlie get craftsmen to work at the jail in "Recollections of Notable Cops"?

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

9. What was Mencken's opinion of Ralph Waldo Emerson's "The American Scholar"?

10. What criticisms did Mencken level at General John Pershing?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 903 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample