View a FREE sample

This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Who shows the speaker a bad luck card in "Bad Luck Card"?
(a) A priest.
(b) A relative.
(c) A random person on the street.
(d) A gypsy.

2. What does the woman's pain tell her to do in "Strange Hurt"?
(a) "Go outside / To understand your inner turmoil."
(b) "You'll find rain better / Than shelter from the rain."
(c) "Bathe in the river / As those before you have done."
(d) "Walk through the fire / To better know the rain."

3. Who is sitting in the amen-corner of the church in "Prayer Meeting"?
(a) Jesus himself.
(b) A family.
(c) A homeless man asking for help.
(d) An old black woman.

4. What does the title "Litany" refer to?
(a) A prayer.
(b) A city in Africa.
(c) All of these answers are correct.
(d) A city in the South.

5. Where did the speaker in "Late Last Night" sit and cry?
(a) At the bank.
(b) At the cemetary.
(c) In the garden.
(d) On the steps.

6. Who is listening to the stories Aunt Sue tells in "Aunt Sue's Stories"?
(a) No one, which is why the poem is so sad.
(b) A "brown-faced child."
(c) Her husband.
(d) The entire neighborhood.

7. In "Angels Wings," what does the speaker say the angel's wings are as white as?
(a) Cotton.
(b) Snow.
(c) Flowers.
(d) Milk.

8. What time does the speaker mention going down to the river in "Reverie on the Harlem River"?
(a) Three p.m.
(b) Five a.m.
(c) Two a.m.
(d) Ten p.m.

9. What inappropriate fashion item do the pimps wear in "What?"
(a) Horizontal stripes.
(b) Summer hats into late fall.
(c) Baseball caps indoors.
(d) White shoes after Labor Day.

10. What does the speaker say the sea is a wilderness of in "Long Trip"?
(a) Of all of God's creations.
(b) Of waves.
(c) Of beauty.
(d) Of animals.

11. What is Hughes known as being the originator of?
(a) Jazz poetry.
(b) Modernist poetry.
(c) Slam poetry.
(d) African American poetry.

12. Why is the speaker so concerned about her lover in "Lover's Return"?
(a) Because he lost his job.
(b) Because he looks so sick.
(c) Because he was in a car accident.
(d) Because he has suddenly gone blind.

13. What kind of pain does the woman feel in "Strange Hurt"?
(a) A "Godlike" pain.
(b) A "heart" pain.
(c) A "silent" pain.
(d) A "queer" pain.

14. When does the musician finally stop playing in "The Weary Blues"?
(a) When he collapses.
(b) When the church service is over.
(c) When the bar closes.
(d) When daybreak comes.

15. In "Sunday Morning Prophecy," where does the preacher encourage the congregants to give freely?
(a) In the collection basket.
(b) In their own homes.
(c) In their communities.
(d) From their kitchens.

Short Answer Questions

1. What "mellows to a golden note" in "Trumpet Player"?

2. What nickname does Sylvester give himself in "Sylvester's Dying Bed"?

3. What is one common theme in the poems presented in the "Feet o' Jesus" section of "Selected Poems of Langston Hughes"?

4. What color does the speaker in "Wake" tell his mourners to wear?

5. When the speaker asks his lover if she understands him in "Maybe," what does she say?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 516 words (approx. 2 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample