View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. Why does the speaker in "Necessity" finally decide he has to work after all?

2. What does the speaker claim he, too, would do if he were a Gypsy?

3. How much does the character's buddy earn a week in "Buddy"?

4. What sound does the speaker claim a dream deferred makes in "Dream Boogie"?

5. What does the speaker in "Cross" wish in regard to his mother?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

3. How does Madam prefer to handle her suitors?

4. How does the speaker compare his relationship with the South and the North in "The South"?

5. What does the stereotype of the poem "Uncle Tom" tap into?

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

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

8. What is the common tone of the pieces in "Life Is Fine"?

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

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Compare and contrast 2 poems in "Magnolia Flowers" and at least 3 rhetorical devices each uses to address life in the American South.

Essay Topic 2

In a well-written essay, discuss 1) 3 reasons why it is important to know information about an author when analyzing a literary text and 2) one example for each reason of how knowing about Hughes helps the reader better understand a poem (or part of a poem) of your choosing.

Essay Topic 3

Discuss how the poem "Early Evening Quarrel" can be analyzed as a vignette that addresses the larger themes (particularly those of romance and the dynamics between men and women) present in "Selected Poems of Langston Hughes."

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 821 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample