H.L. Mencken: Portrait of an Ideal World

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This activity contains 3 questions.

Mencken wrote this essay in the mid-1920s during Prohibition, when the sale of alcohol was essentially illegal in the United States (although people continued to obtain alcohol clandestinely). Evaluate his argument in terms of its potential effectiveness with readers who believe in banning alcohol.

To create paragraphs in your essay response, type at the beginning of the paragraph, and at the end.

Mencken plays down the idea of alcohol abuse. Read Scott Russell Sanders’s “Under the Influence” (p. 634). What might Sanders say to Mencken? How would you respond to both writers?

To create paragraphs in your essay response, type at the beginning of the paragraph, and at the end.

Today, drugs are more controversial than alcohol, although both are still subject to social and scientific debate. Explore your own thoughts about the availability of alcohol and drugs. Do you support a legal drinking age? Do you support laws against all drugs that are currently illegal? Why or why not?

To create paragraphs in your essay response, type at the beginning of the paragraph, and at the end.

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