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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What in particular does the speaker need a dime for in "Down and Out"?
(a) A beer.
(b) New shoes.
(c) To see a movie.
(d) Cleaning supplies.

2. What does the speaker in "Mother to Son" claim her life has NOT been?
(a) "No crystal stair."
(b) "No easy train to ride."
(c) "No happy tune."
(d) "No happy path."

3. Why doesn't the speaker in "Preference" like younger girls?
(a) Because they are too dependent on their parents.
(b) Because they always want something from him.
(c) Because they don't let him boss them around.
(d) Because they cry too much.

4. What does the speaker claim is such a bore in "Ennui"?
(a) Being poor.
(b) Snores.
(c) Chores.
(d) Stores.

5. What is the little girl dreaming of in "To Be Somebody"?
(a) A baby grand piano.
(b) A castle on a cloud.
(c) A prince in a castle.
(d) A dollhouse.

Short Answer Questions

1. What question does the number runner ask Madam in "Madam and the Number Writer"?

2. What is the speaker tired of in "One-Way Ticket"?

3. What does the speaker claim the wine-maiden's lips are as sweet as in "Midnight Dancer"?

4. What does the speaker in "Porter" have to say all the time?

5. What two things does Kid Sleep say he doesn't care about/doesn't want to do in "Kid Sleepy"?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why does the speaker in "Third Degree" confess to police?

2. How are men portrayed in the poems in "Lament Over Love"?

3. What problem does the U.S. Census worker have with Madam in "Madam and the Census Man"?

4. What theme unites the poems in "Name in Uphill Letters"?

5. What are three sub-themes that appear in "Note on Commercial Theater"?

6. What is the history of the word "mulatto," as evidenced in the poem of the same name?

7. What is the reader left to assume about how Madam makes money in the poems about her?

8. Which famous line of Langston Hughes is in "Harlem"?

9. What comparison is made in "Me and the Mule"?

10. What observation does the speaker make about the people riding the subway in "Subway Rush Hour"?

(see the answer keys)

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