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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 and why was Hughes invited to Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee?
(a) To give an address in 1928.
(b) To read his poems in 1929.
(c) To give a speech at commencement in 1926.
(d) To read his poems at commencement in 1927.

2. Why did Hughes want to return to college?
(a) To earn more money.
(b) To get a better background for writing.
(c) To become part of Washington black society.
(d) To get a better job at the Library of Congress.

3. What was the name of the ship Hughes found in New Orleans traveling to Havana?
(a) The Havana.
(b) The Nardo.
(c) The Cuban.
(d) The Chiquita.

4. Why did Hughes take the summer off from the Grand Duc to go to Italy in the summer?
(a) Dr. Locke invited Hughes to spend the summer with him in Rome.
(b) Hughes met a woman and followed her to England.
(c) The Grand Duc closed for the summer until September.
(d) Hughes was fired from his job.

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

Short Answer Questions

1. Who did Hughes think of during his lunch with Mr. Barnes?

2. Who came to Annette's rescue at fight at the Grand Duc?

3. What was "Shuffle Along?"

4. Where did Hughes stay when he arrived in Italy?

5. What did Hughes do with the twenty dollars he received from Crisis for his story?

Short Essay Questions

1. What was the "Messenger"? Who ran it? Why was the editor and the "Messenger" important to Hughes?

2. What poem did Hughes submit in Witter Bynner's Intercollegiate Undergraduate Poetry Contest? How did the poem fare?

3. What were some of the places in Italy Hughes saw aboard the ship headed for New York? What happened to him in Valencia?

4. When an alum of the college met Hughes, how did he react to Hughes's survey concerning having black faculty at Lincoln?

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

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

7. Why did Hughes go to Washington D.C. after landing in New York?

8. 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?

9. While he was still in college, how did Hughes meet the woman who was to become his patron? What story did Hughes tell about their first meeting?

10. What club did white people come into Harlem to drink and listen to music? Why did Hughes not go to this club? How did most Harlem blacks feel about this club?

(see the answer keys)

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