View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What was Marcus Garvey known as in Africa?

2. What happened to the S. S. Malone on its voyage home from Africa?

3. How did Hughes's father feel about Negroes?

4. Why did Hughes take over the job of mess boy on the ship to Europe?

5. How did Hughes get the money for the pullman car from Washington to McKeesport?

Short Essay Questions

1. What happened to Hughes when he, his mother, and his grandmother went to Mexico? Why did they go there, and when did they return?

2. What was the ritual on the S.S. Malone when the ship crossed the equator?

3. What happened aboard the S.S. Malone the week before the ship reached the Virgin Islands on its return to New York?

4. How did Hughes react to being thought of as Mexican on his way home from Mexico? How did he use this misidentity to his advantage?

5. What were the three tragedies Hughes described happening in the village before his departure back to the states?

6. Who did Hughes stand in line to see at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York? What did he think of the performance?

7. What were some of the sights and sounds Hughes witnessed upon entering New York waters? How did he react to them?

8. Who was Edward? How did Hughes meet him?

9. What was Hughes's life like during his senior year in high school, which was also the end of the war?

10. Who were the Reeds? Why did Hughes know them? What important event in Hughes's life as a young child happened while he knew the Reeds?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Hughes remained in Mexico for a year while earning the money to leave the country. What had transpired between Hughes and his father that set Hughes on a plan to leave Mexico? What was Hughes's goal while he was there, and how did he go about reaching that goal? Discuss how this plan affected Hughes's life as a man.

Essay Topic 2

Hughes approached the subject of his relationship with his father over the years of his growing up in poverty. Discuss Langston Hughes's relationship with his father James. In what ways are they similar? How do their differences showcase who Langston Hughes is?

Essay Topic 3

In his autobiography, Hughes only mentions two women in whom he was romantically interested: Suzanna Jones from high school and Mary in Paris. The more important relationship was with Mary. Discuss their relationship. Who was Mary, and how did they meet? Did Hughes reveal how he really felt about Mary? What happened to their love affair, and how did it affect Hughes?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,309 words (approx. 5 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample