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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. When did Hughes write his first novel?
(a) During the summer of his junior year at Lincoln.
(b) During the summer of his senior year at Howard.
(c) During the summer of his junior year at Columbia.
(d) During the summer of his sophomore year at Yale.

2. At Hughes's college, what was the racial makeup of the faculty?
(a) Mixed ethnicities.
(b) All white.
(c) Half white and half black.
(d) All black.

3. What was one hazing experience Hughes related in his discussion of college?
(a) Book carrying.
(b) Paddling.
(c) Head dunking.
(d) Naked partying.

4. What famous author wrote the book "cane?"
(a) Julia Peterkin.
(b) Margery Latimer.
(c) Jean Toomer.
(d) James Weldon Johnson.

5. What was the "Interstate Tattler?"
(a) A monthly black magazine.
(b) A weekly black newspaper.
(c) A jazz gossip rag.
(d) A respected black column in the New York Times.

Short Answer Questions

1. Why did Hughes disembark from the boat trip up the Saguenay River to see the northern lights?

2. What did Hughes say was a "big sea full of fish?"

3. Why did Hughes decide to move from his apartment to an attic room up the hill?

4. What college did Hughes cite as having an all-black faculty?

5. What did an elderly graduate of Lincoln who had read Hughes's survey say to Hughes at his graduation?

Short Essay Questions

1. Where did Hughes attend college during the 1920s? When was the college founded and by whom? Where is the college located?

2. Who was Gladys Bentley? How did Hughes describe her?

3. What event brought Hughes to the South in 1927? How did he react to the South and southern cities?

4. What survey did Hughes conduct at his college during his senior year? Why was this issue important to Hughes?

5. What other meeting did Dr. Locke arrange for Hughes before leaving town?

6. What poem did Hughes submit to "Opportunity" magazine owned by the National Urban League? What was the poem about? What happened to the poem that changes Hughes's life?

7. How did Hughes conclude his story of the racial survey at Lincoln? What changes did he witness at the school and in how many years?

8. How did Hughes describe the wedding of Countee Cullen? Why was the wedding the talk of Harlem for a time? How was Hughes involved?

9. What was hazing at Lincoln University? What kinds of things did hazing involve? What was Hughes's initiation ritual for his fraternity?

10. Who was Bruce? Why did he become upset at work? What happened when the boss fired him? How did this affect Hughes?

(see the answer keys)

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