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 Indian tribe tied up the man in "The Ballad of the Rattlesnake"?

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

3. What sounds does the poet hear in "Rendezvous With America"?

4. What does the Malay claim in "The Blindness of Scorn" put people on the attack?

5. Where are the bones of the man and snake left behind in "The Ballad of the Rattlesnake"?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Tolson demonstrate that Crispus Attucks is a hero in "Allegro Moderato"?

2. In "Dark Symphony," how does Tolson suggest black men formed a brotherhood?

3. How does the poem "The Mountain Climber" represent the struggle to acclimate to America?

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

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

6. Why does the teacher die in "The Gallows"?

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

8. 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"?

9. Why is it important that Tolson does not identify the race of the person who tells the story in "The Ballad of the Rattlesnake"?

10. How do different people view the world in "A Primer for Today"?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss one of the characters in the Harlem Galleries. How does this character change from the beginning to the end of the collection? Do you believe Tolson allows the character to change if he or she does? Why does Tolson choose to allow the character to remain stagnant if he or she does? Choose one other character in the Harlem Galleries and explain their relationship with the initial character you chose.

Essay Topic 2

One of the themes that reoccurs in Tolson's poetry is that of the hardworking every-man. Chose one poem where this theme is present and explain how Tolson presents it using imagery and symbolism.

Essay Topic 3

Define the term foreshadow. How does Tolson use foreshadowing in his poems? Provide two examples of foreshadowing and the events they predict.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 794 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample