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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What term does Hughes use to describe the Mexican Market Woman in the first line of the poem of the same title?
(a) Seer.
(b) Queen.
(c) Hag.
(d) Crone.

2. How old were the two boys to whom the poem "The Bitter River" is dedicated?
(a) 17.
(b) 14.
(c) 16.
(d) 12.

3. The poem entitled "Cross" focuses on the experience of what type of person?
(a) Biracial.
(b) Religious.
(c) Developmentally disabled.
(d) Enslaved.

4. What type of technique or device is used in the poem entitled "Comment on War"?
(a) Understatement.
(b) Diaspora.
(c) Sarcasm.
(d) Alliteration.

5. The poem entitled "Snail" states that the snail knows two things. What are they?
(a) Sky and sand.
(b) Sun and rain.
(c) Roses and grass.
(d) Weather and roses.

6. What tool does John Henry hold in his hand within the poem entitled "Love"?
(a) A scythe.
(b) A hoe.
(c) A hammer.
(d) An awl.

7. The speaker of the poem "Merry-Go-Round" asks about the whereabouts of what section on the Merry-Go-Round?
(a) The dragon section.
(b) The Jim Crow section.
(c) The children's section.
(d) The colored section.

8. The poem entitled "A Black Pierrot" uses what literary device in crafting the first line of each stanza?
(a) Repetition.
(b) Hyperbole.
(c) Personification.
(d) Onomatopeia.

9. Who is the speaker of the poem entitled "Madam and the Rent Man"?
(a) The landlord's mother.
(b) The tenant's son.
(c) The tenant.
(d) The landlord.

10. The "bitter river" (50) in the poem of the same name is said to "reflect no" (50) what?
(a) Faces.
(b) Sunshine.
(c) Justice.
(d) Stars.

11. The speaker of the poem "Heart of Harlem" describes Harlem as "a tear you turn into a" (73) what?
(a) Ocean.
(b) River.
(c) Smile.
(d) Suit of armor.

12. The poem "Lover's Return" is written from the point of view of what type of person?
(a) A woman.
(b) A man.
(c) A sailor.
(d) A shoeshine boy.

13. For what reason does the speaker of the poem "Madam and the Rent Man" refuse to pay rent?
(a) The landlord has forgiven her rent for the month.
(b) Her husband has already paid the rent for the month.
(c) The house is in disrepair.
(d) She has already paid rent for the month.

14. What is NOT a type of weather featured in the poem entitled "Still Here"?
(a) Snow.
(b) Wind.
(c) Hail.
(d) Sun.

15. What literary technique is used throughout the poem "Ballad of the Fortune Teller"?
(a) Paradox.
(b) Irony.
(c) Hyperbole.
(d) Simile.

Short Answer Questions

1. The speaker of the poem "The South" says at the end of the poem that he will soon seek the North, for he has heard it said that the North is what?

2. The speaker of the poem entitled "The Negro Speaks of Rivers" uses a simile to state that what object of his has "grown deep like the rivers" (3)?

3. What instrument does the subject of the poem "The Weary Blues" play?

4. In the poem entitled "Words Like Freedom," what other word in the poem is italicized, besides the word "freedom" (67)?

5. What is the name of the fortune teller's lover in the poem entitled "Ballad of the Fortune Teller"?

(see the answer keys)

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