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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. With what triumphant phrase does the speaker conclude "Still Here"?

2. Where is Miss Michaelmas in "Southern Mammy Sings"?

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

4. Why does the speaker prefer older women in "Preference"?

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

Short Essay Questions

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

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

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

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

5. How does Madam prefer to handle her suitors?

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

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

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

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

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss why Hughes decided to name the section of "Selected Poems of Langston Hughes" that deals with the American South "Magnolia Flowers." Make sure to address the symbolism and imagery of a magnolia that Hughes taps into.

Essay Topic 2

Compare and contrast 2 poems in the section "Lament Over Love," paying particular attention to their portrayal of men.

Essay Topic 3

Compare and contrast the Negro Mother and Alberta Johnson, making sure to use direct quotations from the text in your essay.

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