View a FREE sample

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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What does the speaker see in "Seascape"?
(a) "A row of soldiers on the shore."
(b) "A line of fishing ships."
(c) "My own future, going down with the ship."
(d) "The faces of children, dreaming of sweets."

2. Which of the following does the speaker NOT claim to have been in "Negro"?
(a) A singer.
(b) A doctor.
(c) A slave.
(d) A worker.

3. What did the speaker's lover in "Lover's Return" come home to do?
(a) Sleep.
(b) Die.
(c) Cook.
(d) Cry.

4. In the poem "Fire," what does the author think fire is going to do?
(a) Burn his crops.
(b) Burn his house down.
(c) Clean his sins away.
(d) Burn his soul.

5. What did the speaker come home without in "Midnight Raffle"?
(a) The groceries his wife asked him to buy.
(b) A briefcase.
(c) A dime.
(d) A job.

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

7. What is curved beneath Big Boy's arm in "Catch"?
(a) A few extra-long pieces of wheat.
(b) His son's teddy bear.
(c) The mermaid's tail.
(d) A Bible.

8. What is the drum saying to life in "Drum"?
(a) "Stay! / Stay!"
(b) "Come! / Come!"
(c) "Run! / Run!"
(d) "Go! / Go!"

9. What is Joy driving in "Joy"?
(a) An imaginary buggy.
(b) A horse-drawn carriage.
(c) A fancy car.
(d) The butcher's cart.

10. What is the Indian merchantman doing in "Seascape"?
(a) Getting married.
(b) Going out to sea.
(c) Being buried.
(d) Coming home.

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

12. What do the blues prevent the speaker from doing in "Miss Blues'es Child"?
(a) Playing the trumpet well.
(b) Smiling.
(c) Singing well.
(d) Earning money.

13. In "The Negro Speaks of Rivers," what does the speaker say his souls has done similar to a river?
(a) Grown deep.
(b) Flown with anger.
(c) Rushed to the ocean.
(d) Washed everything clean.

14. How does the speaker describe the plants in "Garden"?
(a) As beautiful and relaxing.
(b) As boring and ignorant.
(c) As strange and distorted.
(d) As angry and ugly.

15. What supernatural figure appears in the poem "Sunday Morning Prophecy"?
(a) Devils.
(b) Ghosts.
(c) Fairies.
(d) Wizards.

Short Answer Questions

1. What is "Prayer Meeting" an example of?

2. How does the speaker specifically describe the tulips in "Garden"?

3. Why is the speaker so concerned about her lover in "Lover's Return"?

4. What does the title "Litany" refer to?

5. What are the tambourines being played for in "Tambourines"?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 455 words (approx. 2 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample