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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. How did Hughes feel about Columbia once he started college there?

2. Who was Captain Ralph Quarles?

3. Where did Hughes go to see the bullfights in Mexico?

4. What did "Negro" mean in the United States?

5. Who were George and Ramon?

Short Essay Questions

1. What were some of the sights and sounds Hughes witnessed upon entering New York waters? How did he react to them?

2. How did Hughes react to being thought of as Mexican on his way home from Mexico? How did he use this misidentity to his advantage?

3. How long did it take Hughes to find work in Paris? What job did he finally get? What was his pay?

4. Who was Florence Embry Jones? Who were some of the musicians Hughes heard because of Florence?

5. How did Hughes react to being in college at Columbia University? What were the problems he identified?

6. What happened aboard the S.S. Malone the week before the ship reached the Virgin Islands on its return to New York?

7. Who were the Reeds? Why did Hughes know them? What important event in Hughes's life as a young child happened while he knew the Reeds?

8. What was the ritual on the S.S. Malone when the ship crossed the equator?

9. Who was Frau Schultz? What role did she play in Hughes's life?

10. What kinds of things happened on board Hughes's ship from New York to Rotterdam? How were they different than the typical passage aboard the S.S. Malone?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Hughes wrote the book "Not Without Laughter" during the summer after his junior year at Lincoln University. What was the book about, and what did it mean to Hughes? What does the phrase "not without laughter" mean and why was it fitting for this novel?

Essay Topic 2

Hughes decided to attend Lincoln University, an all black college, when he received a scholarship. How was his experience at Lincoln different than that of Columbia University? What did Hughes identify as a major problem at Lincoln, and what did he attempt to do about it? Was he successful?

Essay Topic 3

There were two singers at the Grand Duc while Hughes worked there: Florence Embry Jones and Bricktop Ada Smith. Both were excellent jazz singers and two very different women. Compare the two singers, what they offered the Grand Duc, and how they affected Hughes while he worked there.

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