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

2. Why did Hughes turn down Alain Locke's request to meet with him?

3. Where did Hughes, his mother, and his grandmother go to meet his father?

4. What was the "mother ship?"

5. How old was Hughes's little brother Kit when Hughes returned from Africa?

Short Essay Questions

1. What was Hughes's life like during his senior year in high school, which was also the end of the war?

2. What was Hughes's ethnic heritage? How did this affect his travels in Africa?

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

4. 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?

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

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

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

8. How did Hughes convince his father to allow him to attend Columbia University in New York? When did Hughes leave Mexico for college?

9. 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?

10. What were the contents of the one box Hughes brought with him on the ship? What was he thinking about as he threw the contents of the box off of the S.S. Malone into the ocean?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

During his time at college, Hughes was introduced to a woman, whose name he did not reveal, who would become his patron and allow him to write without fears of poverty. Discuss this woman and her relationship with Hughes. Describe her and her interest in Hughes and his writing. How did the two of them communicate with each other? How did the relationship finally end?

Essay Topic 2

Hughes titled one of the chapters in his autobiography "Distinguished Visitor." This visitor brought with him the beginnings of major fame for Hughes. Discuss the visitor and what he had to offer Hughes. Who did he introduce Hughes to that influenced his career? Why was this visitor important throughout Hughes's career?

Essay Topic 3

Hughes opened his autobiography with the line "Life is a big sea full of many fish. I let down my nets and pull" and closed it with "Literature is a big sea full of many fish. I let down my nets and pulled. I'm still pulling." Discuss these two statements and how they pertain to Hughes, his autobiography, and his life.

(see the answer keys)

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