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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. Who does Tolson compare the mountain climber's plight to?

2. In "If You Should Lie to Me," who is the narrator speaking to?

3. Who are the bad men in America according to the poem "Rendezvous With America"?

4. What does the black man want in "Tempo Primo"?

5. What crash does "Larghetto" assert black men were not involved in?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is the poet trying to prove in his poem "Rendezvous with America"? How does he prove this?

2. What does Tolson hope for himself in the poem "A Song for Myself"? What does he hope for the reader?

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

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

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

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

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

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

9. What is the purpose of the use of religion in "Rendezvous with America"?

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Choose two significant events Tolson mentions in "Rendezvous With America." What are these events and why does Tolson include them in this poem?

Essay Topic 2

How does description play a role in an author's work? How does the author use description to draw the reader into the poem? What are some examples where the description does not work? Cite two poems and explain how the description helps or hinders the poet's message.

Essay Topic 3

How does Tolson address the theme of America as a melting pot? Choose two examples of how this idea appears in his poems, and explain whether he believes the concept of the melting pot to be true.

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