View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What did Hughes say was a "big sea full of fish?"
(a) Love.
(b) Literature.
(c) Socializing.
(d) Writing.

2. How did Dr. Alain Locke find Hughes in Paris?
(a) He found out from Sonya.
(b) He looked him up in the phone book.
(c) He got his address from the magazine Crisis.
(d) He spoke with Hughes' mother in New York.

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

4. What poem of Hughes won first prize in Witter Bynner's Intercollegiate Undergraduate Poetry Contest in 1926?
(a) "A House in Taos."
(b) "A Raisin in the Sun."
(c) "Walking Stick."
(d) "Wandering Fool."

5. Where did Hughes meet Vachel Lindsay?
(a) At a NAACP function.
(b) At the Wardman Park Hotel.
(c) At a formal reception for a local black poet.
(d) On Seventh Street.

Short Answer Questions

1. Who were Pail Robeson, Florence Mills, Bessie Smith and Roland Hayes?

2. What happened to Hughes to make it possible for him to write "Not Without Laughter?"

3. What made Hughes the "town curiosity" while he was in Italy?

4. When Hughes wrote "The Big Sea," how many years had passed since he had worked on his survey?

5. Once, on his way to the train accompanied by a chauffeur and a secretary, who did Hughes meet at the station?

Short Essay Questions

1. What benefit cabaret was hosted by the NAACP to which Hughes was invited? Who did he meet there? Who was singing at the club when he entered?

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

3. How did Hughes's patron feel about black in America? How did this manifest itself in her relationship with Hughes?

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

5. Who was Hughes's distinguished visitor? Why was the visit an important one?

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

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

8. Who did Hughes call the "great Harlem party giver?" How did Hughes describe the parties and the hostess?

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

10. Why did Hughes travel to Italy for the summer? Where did he stay?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,435 words (approx. 5 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample