ProCon’s Cancel Culture Quiz

Question: Which of the following is a common argument against cancel culture?

Answer: This is a common argument against cancel culture.

Question: Which writer saw seeds of cancel culture in 19th-century American society?

Answer: French historian and political scientist Alexis de Tocqueville noted in the first volume of Democracy in America (1835) that an American daring to speak freely will find that a “political career is closed to him.…Everything is refused him, even glory…[until] he finally bends under the effort of each day and returns to silence as if he felt remorse for having spoken the truth.”

Question: Which of the following is a common argument in support of cancel culture?

Answer: This is a common argument in support of cancel culture.

Question: What’s another name for cancel culture?

Answer: Cancel culture has also been called “callout culture” for the act of “calling out” people or organizations for their opinions or actions deemed objectionable.

Question: Which of the following has been a target of cancel culture and social media campaigns?

Answer: All of these have been targeted by cancel campaigns.

Question: Which of the following is a common example of cancel culture?

Answer: All of these are common tactics and characteristics of cancel culture.

Question: Which of the following novels foreshadows aspects of modern cancel culture?

Answer: Like targets of cancel culture today, the main character of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter (1850) is “outed” and publicly shamed for behavior deemed morally objectionable.

Question: Public shaming is nothing new, but which factor has radically magnified the scope and impact of contemporary cancel culture?

Answer: The rise of social media and the 24-hour news cycle has dramatically amplified the speed, scope, and impact of public “outing” and shaming.