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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What does the speaker hope for her child in the poem "Lament over Love"?
(a) That he or she will not grow up to be poor.
(b) The he or she will never love a man.
(c) That he or she will go to college.
(d) That he or she will stop being so bratty all the time.

2. Where is Miss Michaelmas in "Southern Mammy Sings"?
(a) At mass.
(b) At a funeral.
(c) In her garden.
(d) In her yard.

3. What does the speaker in "Porter" have to say all the time?
(a) "Thank you, sir."
(b) "Thank you, ma'am."
(c) "No, ma'am."
(d) "Yes, sir."

4. What does Madam say she'd do before she pays the rent to her landlord in "Madam and the Rent Man"?
(a) Go to the bank.
(b) Scrub all the floors in the house.
(c) Cook a nice dinner.
(d) Go to Hades.

5. Why does Madam have a large phone bill in "Madam and the Phone Bill"?
(a) Because the company made a mistake.
(b) Because the rates went up and she didn't know.
(c) Because she fell asleep while on the phone.
(d) Because someone called her collect.

Short Answer Questions

1. What does the speaker in "Mother to Son" claim her life has NOT been?

2. Where does the speaker say Harlem is in "Puzzled"?

3. What is the speaker tired of in "One-Way Ticket"?

4. What does the speaker claim the wine-maiden's lips are as sweet as in "Midnight Dancer"?

5. Where does the fortune teller tell Madam her fortune is in "Madam and the Fortune Teller"?

Short Essay Questions

1. What one notable thing does the poem "Daybreak" address in the "Magnolia Flowers" section that the others do not?

2. What does the speaker in "High to Low" accuse the "low" African-Americans of doing?

3. What does the stereotype of the poem "Uncle Tom" tap into?

4. What are three sub-themes that appear in "Note on Commercial Theater"?

5. How do the poems in "Life Is Fine" treat life's trials and tribulations?

6. What comparison is made in "Me and the Mule"?

7. Why do some of the women in the "Lament Over Love" section claim to still participate in bad relationships with men?

8. How are men portrayed in the poems in "Lament Over Love"?

9. How does Madam prefer to handle her suitors?

10. How does the speaker compare his relationship with the South and the North in "The South"?

(see the answer keys)

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