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. Where is Miss Gardner in "Southern Mammy Sings"?

2. What in particular does the speaker need a dime for in "Down and Out"?

3. What job does Ruby Brown have when the poem of her same name starts?

4. What does the speaker in "Cross" take back in regard to his father?

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

Short Essay Questions

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

2. What historical figure might Madam Alberta K. Johnson be based upon?

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

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

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

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

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

8. How does Madam prefer to handle her suitors?

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

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

"Ennui" is an incredibly short but very powerful poem. Analyze Hughes's choice in diction for the poem and why he chose the words he did in a poem of such brevity. (Make sure to also address the title as one of Hughes's word choices.)

Essay Topic 2

In a well-written essay, discuss the symbolism, imagery, and diction Hughes uses in "March Moon."

Essay Topic 3

In "Widow Woman," Hughes writes from the perspective of a woman. Discuss at least 3 rhetorical devices he uses to come up with a voice that is his own and yet not his own in this particular poem.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 765 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample