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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. What tyrant does the narrator mention in "A Long Head to a Round Head"?

2. What is the poem "The Man from Halicarnassus" about?

3. Whose march will continue, according to "Tapestries of Time"?

4. What is the name of the child that is born in "African China"?

5. How does the narrator describe the Nordic god in "The Idols of the Tribe""?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does the poem "Libretto for the Republic of Liberia" mean when it suggests that America is the narrator's mother and Liberia is his wife.

2. What is the significance of the Curator in Harlem Gallery distinguishing the importance of the word "ex"?

3. What might have been the reason Tolson elects to use the Greek alphabet to separate his poem Harlem Gallery?

4. Why does Doctor Nkomo feel that life and art are linked?

5. Why does the poem "The Idols of the Tribe" open with a quote from Hitler?

6. Describe the different Gods Tolson describes in "The Idols of the Tribe."

7. What is Tolson's opinion on tyrants as seen in the poem "A Long Head to a Round Head"?

8. What role does the Curator play in the Harlem Gallery poems?

9. How does Tolson believe tyrants remain in power?

10. What does Tolson believe is the greatest gift Africa has to give to its people according to "Libretto for the Republic of Liberia"?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Tolson creates and discusses many interesting people in his poems. Choose one person or couple he mentions in a poem explain how those people or characters help deliver the message of the poem.

Essay Topic 2

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 3

How does Tolson use symbolism in the poem "The Gallows"? What is the meaning behind the symbolic element(s) in this poem?

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