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 does Tolson hope for in the poem "A Song for Myself"?

2. What color is the object the craftsman in "Damascus Bride" makes?

3. How many parts is the poem "Dark Symphony"?

4. What happens to men who live bad lives and have bad souls in "A Song for Myself"?

5. Who is La Guardia?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Tolson remove black men from responsibility in "Larghetto"?

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

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

4. Why does the narrator in "An Ex-Judge at the Bar" feel guilty, and how does he appease this guilt?

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

6. How does Tolson describe the common people in "Rendezvous with America"?

7. In "A Scholar Looks at an Oak," how is the black man represented?

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

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

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

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

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.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 635 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample