The Meaning of Midwest

It’s partly a matter of geography and partly a state of mind, so mapping out what constitutes our region is no easy matter. No wonder some Michiganians have an identity crisis

Illustrations by Kyle Raetz

(page 3 of 3)

Midwest Quiz

So, how well do you really know your region? Take this test and find out if you’re a bona fide Midwesterner (Answers follow quiz)

1. The Midwest is home to which attraction?

A. Burning Man
B. World’s largest buffalo
C. Cumberland Gap

2. What is the shallowest of the Great Lakes?
A. Huron
B. Ontario
C. Erie

3. Which president was born in the Midwest?

A. George Bush
B. Ronald Reagan
C. Grover Cleveland

4. What is the windiest U.S. city?

A. Columbus, Ohio
B. Chicago, Ill.
C. Dodge City, Kan.

5. Which state boasts Cornhuskers football?

A. Illinois
B. Oklahoma
C. Nebraska

6. Who said Michigan’s Oakland County is a “strange mixture of prosperity and poverty?”

A. Harry Truman
B. Alexis de Tocqueville
C. Kid Rock

7. Bob Dylan was born Robert Allen Zimmerman in which Midwestern city?

A. Duluth, Minn.
B. Indianapolis, Ind.
C. Madison, Wis.

8. When did the U.S. Census Bureau officially adopt the term Midwest?

A. 1792
B. 1865
C. 1984

9. Where was the raucous Democratic convention of 1968 held?

A. Des Moines
B. Chicago
C.  St. Louis

10. What’s the combined population of the 12 Midwest states?

A. 26 million
B. 46 million
C. 66 million

11. Dorothy, the character in the Wizard of Oz, was from where?

A. Iowa
B. Indiana
C. Kansas

12. In what city was The Mary Tyler Moore Show set?

A. Chicago
B. Minneapolis
C. Cincinnati

13. In a 2003 survey, which region had the highest proportion of people who completed high school?

A. Midwest
B. South
C. West

Answers:

1. (B) The 46-foot, 60-ton concrete bison is in Jamestown, N.D.
2. (C) Lake Erie’s average depth is only 62 feet. Lake Superior, the deepest, averages out at 483 feet.
3. (B) Reagan was born in Tampico, Ill.
4. (C) Dodge City’s average wind speed is 13.9 mph. Although it’s called “The Windy City,” Chicago’s average annual wind speed is only 10.3 mph.
5. (C) Nebraska, where football is a religion.
6. (B) It’s a line from de Tocqueville’s journal written in the 1830s.
7. (A) Dylan was born in 1941 in Duluth.
8. (C) The term “Middle West” is also sometimes used.
9.  (B) Convention delegates nominated Hubert Humphrey.
10. (C) 66 million, which is about 22 percent of the U.S. population.
11. (C) Kansas.
12. (B) Minneapolis, dubbed a city with Midwest values.
13. (A) About 88 percent of Midwesterners graduated, the U.S. Census Bureau says.
 

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