Read "Danse Africane" on page 7. Discuss the author's deliberate choice of a French title rather than an English one. What is significant about the phrase "night-veiled girl"? What is the author implying when he states: "And the low beating of the tom-toms / Stirs your blood"? Who is the audience for this poem?

In several of Hughes' poems, the motif of the dream is used. Discuss what the importance of dreams (or wishes) in the context of an African-American writer of the early 20th century. What were the issues facing Langston Hughes and other artists at that time? Use examples from the text to substantiate the points being made.

Re-read the selections in "Lament for Love" (Pps. 123 - 123). What does the author accomplish by writing from the perspective of an African-American woman? What do the poems, as a group, say about the African-American female's experience...