View a FREE sample

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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What two adjectives are part of the poem titled using two words prior to the title's final word, "freedom" (67)?
(a) Little old.
(b) Long laboring.
(c) Words like.
(d) Mighty sad.

2. 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?
(a) A more scrupulous government.
(b) A more welcoming host.
(c) A kinder mistress.
(d) A more intelligent host.

3. What type of business had the speaker of the poem "Madam's Past History" run for a while before moving on to a different business?
(a) A hair salon.
(b) A bar.
(c) A bookstore.
(d) A restaurant.

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

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

6. An allusion to which famous person is NOT included within the poem entitled "Scottsboro"?
(a) Lenin.
(b) Joan of Arc.
(c) Abraham Lincoln.
(d) Nat Turner.

7. The speaker of the poem "Good Morning Revolution" suggests that soon all but which of the following will be true?
(a) No one will be cold.
(b) No one will be taken for granted.
(c) No one will be hungry.
(d) No one will be oppressed.

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

9. The poem "America" focuses on which two marginalized groups?
(a) African-Americans and gay people.
(b) African-Americans and Mexican-Americans.
(c) African-Americans and Jewish-Americans.
(d) African-Americans and women.

10. The poem entitled "Freedom's Plow" repeats several times that it is better to die free than to what?
(a) Live as a slave.
(b) Be thrown into jail.
(c) Live in the South.
(d) Lie incessantly.

11. To whom does the speaker of the poem "The Negro Mother" speak?
(a) Her children.
(b) Her nieces.
(c) Her mother.
(d) Future America.

12. What is written on the back of the letter featured within the poem entitled "Little Old Letter"?
(a) The word goodbye.
(b) The name of the speaker's lover.
(c) The speaker's name.
(d) Nothing.

13. 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)?
(a) His aura.
(b) His soul.
(c) His mind.
(d) His passion.

14. The poem "I, Too" is a response to a poem by which famous American poet?
(a) William Carlos Williams.
(b) e.e. cummings.
(c) Allen Ginsberg.
(d) Walt Whitman.

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

Short Answer Questions

1. What are the final two words of the lengthy poem entitled "Freedom's Plow"?

2. The poem entitled "A Black Pierrot" uses what literary device in crafting the first line of each stanza?

3. To what personality does the speaker of the poem "Heart of Harlem" NOT allude within the poem?

4. The speaker of the poem entitled "Good Morning Revolution" suggests that the different countries named in the poem join together to sign what collective name?

5. What is the main metaphor running through the narrative of the poem "Mother to Son"?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 574 words (approx. 2 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample