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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What does the speaker encourage the reader to wonder about when down by the river?
(a) The preciousness of children.
(b) How beautiful nature is.
(c) The power of love.
(d) What (you) got left.

2. What are the tambourines being played for in "Tambourines"?
(a) A funeral.
(b) Glory.
(c) Peace.
(d) A wedding.

3. What is one way Sylvester knows he is dying in "Sylvester's Dying Bed"?
(a) He sees the River Jordan.
(b) He saw it earlier in a dream.
(c) He hears Jesus talking to him.
(d) He doesn't feel any more pain.

4. In "As I Grew Older," what does the speaker say he had nearly forgotten?
(a) His dream.
(b) His mother.
(c) His wallet.
(d) His father.

5. When the speaker asks his lover if she understands him in "Maybe," what does she say?
(a) That she thought she would.
(b) Neither of these answers is correct.
(c) Both of these answers are correct.
(d) That she didn't.

6. What kind of cadence is "The Weary Blues" written in?
(a) The cadence of a sermon.
(b) The cadence of rap music.
(c) The cadence of classical music.
(d) The cadence of a blues song.

7. Who does Hughes dedicate "Selected Poems of Langston Hughes" to?
(a) His cousin, Flora.
(b) His father, Langston.
(c) Martin Luther King, Jr.
(d) His uncle, Malcom.

8. What did Hattie want Hammond to buy when he was out?
(a) Bread.
(b) Sugar.
(c) Butter.
(d) Wine.

9. What does the speaker say is a strong thing in "Spirituals"?
(a) Water.
(b) Song.
(c) Nature.
(d) Hatred.

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

11. What is Big Boy going to do with the object on his shoulders in "Catch"?
(a) Drop him off at school.
(b) Marry her.
(c) Sell it at the market.
(d) Leave it at God's doorstep.

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

13. What did the speaker's lover also pawn when he/she pawned the speaker's watch?
(a) Heart.
(b) Youth.
(c) Sanity.
(d) Brain.

14. Where does the speaker find himself after dying in the poem "Judgment Day"?
(a) In Hell.
(b) With God.
(c) Back in his childhood bedroom.
(d) Back in Atlanta.

15. What language, other than English, is used in the poem "Havana Dreams"?
(a) Russian.
(b) Gaelic.
(c) Creole.
(d) Spanish.

Short Answer Questions

1. In "The Negro Speaks of Rivers," where does the speaker say he has been over time?

2. Which of the following does the speaker NOT claim to have been in "Negro"?

3. In "The Negro Speaks of Rivers," what does the speaker say his souls has done similar to a river?

4. In the poem "Catch," what is Big Boy carrying on his shoulders?

5. What annoying habit of his Baby does the speaker address in "Morning After"?

(see the answer keys)

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