Mule Bone Papers & Assignment Topics

Essay Topics/Writing Assignments

These 20 essay questions can be used as essay questions on a test, or as stand-alone essay topics for a take-home or in-class writing assignment. Students should have a full understanding of the text in order to answer these questions. They ask for a thorough analysis of the text.

1. Hughes and Hurston use a Southern dialect in the dialogue of the play in order to bring authenticity to the characters. Some of their contemporaries opposed this use of dialect, complaining that the characters are made to seem uneducated and simple. Even today, academics debate the use of dialect in this and other literary works. Defend or attack the authors' use of dialect in the play. Does dialect make the characters realistic, or is it demeaning to African-Americans from the South? Provide examples from the text to support your answer.

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