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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. According to the speaker in "To Be Somebody," where is there always room?
(a) In one's own mind.
(b) At the top.
(c) In another's heart.
(d) In dreams.

2. Where is Miss Michaelmas in "Southern Mammy Sings"?
(a) In her yard.
(b) At a funeral.
(c) At mass.
(d) In her garden.

3. What does the little boy use as a toy in "Madam and the Charity Child"?
(a) A switch-blade.
(b) The trash can.
(c) Dolls.
(d) Rocks.

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

5. With what triumphant phrase does the speaker conclude "Still Here"?
(a) "I'm still here for as long as she'll have me!"
(b) "I'm still here / Though my mind is far behind."
(c) "I'm still here / Though you fell down along the way."
(d) "I'm still here!"

Short Answer Questions

1. How many men are helping plan the parade in "Parade"?

2. How does the character in "Migrant" sign his paycheck?

3. What does the speaker compare love to in "Lament over Love"?

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

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

Short Essay Questions

1. How do the poems in "Life Is Fine" treat life's trials and tribulations?

2. What does the speaker in "Hard Daddy" want to be an eagle?

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

4. What major themes are present in the poems included in "Montage of a Dream Deferred"?

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

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

7. How does Madam prefer to handle her suitors?

8. What one notable thing does the poem "Daybreak" address in the "Magnolia Flowers" section that the others do not?

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

10. What do both "Still Here" and "Me and the Mule" celebrate?

(see the answer keys)

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