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

Short Answer Questions

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

2. How does Madam want her name printed in "Madam's Calling Cards"?

3. What children's rhyme does the speaker mention in "Children's Rhymes"?

4. Where are people meeting to plan the parade in "Parade"?

5. What question does the Klan ask the speaker in "Ku Klux"?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

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

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

5. What does the speaker in "High to Low" accuse the "low" African-Americans of doing?

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

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

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

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

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss at least 3 ways a poem of your choosing might be different if Langston Hughes were writing today instead of during the Harlem Renaissance. Use specific examples from the poem(s) when discussing potential differences.

Essay Topic 2

Find three examples of personification in "Selected Poems of Langston Hughes" and discuss how and why Hughes uses each in the manner that he does.

Essay Topic 3

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.

(see the answer keys)

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