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. What would best describe Mencken's attitude toward Oliver Wendell Holmes?
(a) He was a Liberal hero in name only.
(b) He was a quack chiropractor.
(c) His rulings were thoroughly corrupt.
(d) He was a fantastic advocate of progressive causes.

2. Which was one of the architectural styles Mencken mentioned as part of the "new architecture"?
(a) Victorian.
(b) Cubism.
(c) American colonial.
(d) Modernism.

3. Which of the following was true in regard to statements made by Mencken about chiropractic?
(a) Chiropractic sprang from a perversion of brain science.
(b) The deaths of chiropractic patients was welcome, as it would mean less stupid people in the world.
(c) Chiropractors were made up of intellectual heavyweights and aristocrats.
(d) There was no, and would never be, any beneficial effect of chiropractic.

4. According to Mencken, why was Samuel Johnson unique as an artist?
(a) He has a particularly thrilling prose style.
(b) He always gave to charity, and artists are infamous misers.
(c) He never cared about his own fame or legacy.
(d) He never turned against his country, unlike all artists.

5. What problem did Mencken have with Justice Holmes' final court case?
(a) The case was a clear violation of freedom from double jeopardy.
(b) The case involved a tainted jury pool.
(c) The case violated the writ of Habeus Corpus.
(d) Holmes delivered an hour-long, and completely unnecessary, speech when rendering his verdict.

Short Answer Questions

1. Where did the Scopes monkey trial take place?

2. Why did Mencken call democracy a "self-limiting disease"?

3. Which of the following is NOT something that exists as a result of the Anglo-Saxon race, according to Mencken?

4. In "Valentino," what did the press find in a men's bathroom that caused them to mock Valentino and his "Latin Lover" image?

5. What was the subject of the Scopes monkey trial?

Short Essay Questions

1. Contemporaries wrote that Calvin Coolidge bore several similarities to Abraham Lincoln. Why did Mencken disagree with this claim?

2. According to "The Author at Work," why do writers write?

3. According to Mencken in "The Calamity of Appomattox," what would have happened if the Civil War had never happened?

4. In "Exeunt Omnes," Mencken described his second book on death, which has collected sayings and thoughts on death. What did Mencken maintain was the main idea of the book?

5. What opinion was rendered about William Jennings Bryan in "In Memoriam: W.J.B."?

6. What did Mencken conclude about his research into the court cases of Oliver Wendell Holmes?

7. Describe the religious service Mencken witnessed in "The Hills of Zion."

8. Why did Mencken take issue with Oliver Wendell Holmes' final court case?

9. What was Mencken's opinion of stage acting?

10. Why are artists "anti-patriotic," according to Mencken in "The Artist"?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,043 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample