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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 does Langston think about his job as a doorman at a nightclub?

2. Where does Langston accept a job teaching English?

3. What leads Langston and his father to get into an argument concerning Langston's future?

4. How many parts of the African coast does Hughes see?

5. What would Langston rather read?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why does Langston move to Cleveland?

2. Why do Langston's classmates believe he would be a good poet?

3. Describe Langston's father.

4. How does Langston end up meeting the editors of The Crisis?

5. Describe Hughes' family history.

6. How do Langston and his father get into an argument?

7. What happens when Langston returns to New York?

8. How does Langston get the opportunity to travel to Africa? What does he do, as he travels across the ocean?

9. How is Langston affected by racism at this point in his life?

10. What does Langston do after dropping out of Columbia?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

One of this text's themes regards the division between black and white.

Part 1)How is this theme revealed in Langston's family?

Part 2) How does this theme surface throughout the book?

Part 3) How is there irony in this theme when Langston travels to Africa?

Essay Topic 2

Hughes' work often gets him into trouble.

Part 1) Why does it get him into trouble?

Part 2) Would it get him into trouble today?

Part 3) Do writers and other artists today get themselves into trouble for the same issues Hughes got himself into trouble? Explain.

Essay Topic 3

Hughes says he begins writing poetry because "he could not help himself."

Part 1) Why does he not have this attitude early on in life?

Part 2) What causes this change?

Part 3) How does this type of attitude lead him through his life?

(see the answer keys)

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