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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 much a night was the first room Hughes stayed in Paris?

2. What did Hughes consider the "greatest Negro city in the world?"

3. How did Hughes feel when he arrived in Harlem for the first time?

4. Where did the S.S. Malone finally put in?

5. How did Hughes's father feel about Negroes?

Short Essay Questions

1. 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?

2. 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?

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

4. While sailing along the African shore, what did the crew do from port to port? What did Hughes realize about the black Africans?

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

6. What did Hughes notice about the way Mexicans and Negros were treated differently, particularly on his way home from Mexico to Cleveland, Ohio?

7. Who was Jocko? Where did he come from? Where did he live?

8. What happened when Hughes picked up Jocko from the pet shop in New York? How did he raise the money to get home?

9. How did Hughes meet someone in Paris who helped him find a place to stay, and who was the person? What was the surprise Hughes found when he went up to his room?

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

When he was a child, Hughes lived with the Reeds who not only saw to his care and education but also to his religious development. One incident at church was a particularly important one for Hughes. What happened to him at the Reed's church? How did his behavior affect the Reeds? How did it affect Hughes? How did this experience change his life?

Essay Topic 2

Hughes described in detail a brawl in the Grand Duc involving a woman named Annette. There was a distinct theme and message Hughes was making in his retelling of the story. Discuss the brawl, what it was about, and what it stood for in Hughes's life. Why do you think Hughes did not jump into the brawl to fight?

Essay Topic 3

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?

(see the answer keys)

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