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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 question does Tolson ask in "The Mountain Climber"?
(a) How long it takes to climb a mountain.
(b) Why the climber quits his job.
(c) Why the moon never shines on the mountain.
(d) Why the climber risks his life.

2. Where does Tolson repeat the same stanzas of the poem "The Mountain Climber"?
(a) The middle and end.
(b) The beginning and end.
(c) Never.
(d) The begining and middle.

3. Where does "The Shift of Gears" take place?
(a) A yard.
(b) A garage.
(c) A house.
(d) A school.

4. What is the man in "A Hamlet Rives Us" doing during the poem?
(a) Expressing joy.
(b) Grieving.
(c) Dancing.
(d) Running.

5. What is tied to the rattlesnakes tail in "The Ballad of the Rattlesnake"?
(a) A rock.
(b) A bone.
(c) A stick.
(d) A fork.

Short Answer Questions

1. What does the mechanic in "The Shift of Gears" compare shifting too?

2. What does the Malay wear in "The Blindness of Scorn"?

3. What does the historian want to know in "A Primer for Today"?

4. How long does Tolson say blacks were enslaved in "Andante Sostenuto"?

5. In the poem "The Ballad of the Rattlesnake," what color is the man's dyed hair?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is the meaning of the bones of both the snake and the man are left in the dessert in "The Ballad of the Rattlesnake"?

2. What is the lesson that Tolson puts forth in "When Great Dogs Fight"?

3. How does Babylon symbolize America in the poem "Babylon"?

4. What might "The Shift of Gears" be a metaphor for?

5. What does Tolson believe the "new black man" embodies according to "Tempo Primo"?

6. What might the volcano's eruption signify in the poem "Vesuvius"?

7. How does Tolson define bravery in the poem "The Big Game Hunter"?

8. Why does no one listen to the hillman in the poem "Vesuvius"?

9. What will bring death to the narrator in "If You Should Lie to Me"?

10. How does the story of the sheep and the wolf in "The Dictionary of the Wolf" symbolize racism?

(see the answer keys)

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