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

Short Answer Questions

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

2. Where do the hillmen think they should not build?

3. What does Tolson say forgetting is akin to in "Andante Sostenuto"?

4. What does the bard in "The Bard of Addis Ababa" chant about?

5. What does Tolson claim in "Dark Symphony" that the black man has less of then white men?

Short Essay Questions

1. How is hatred the downfall of white men in "The Blindness of Scorn"?

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

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

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

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

6. What is the significance of the the sign in "The Town of Fathers" that reads "The Blackest Land / And The Whitest People"?

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

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

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

10. Why did Tolson decide to split "Dark Symphony" into titles that are musical movements?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Why is the word tapestries important in the poem "Tapestries of Time"?

Essay Topic 2

Define the term symbolism and explain the symbolism present in "The Mountain Climber."

Essay Topic 3

What impact did Lincoln have on Tolson's life? Choose examples from Tolson's poems that suggest what relationship Tolson had with Lincoln. Why does Tolson hold Lincoln in such high esteem?

(see the answer keys)

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