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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. 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.

2. How much money does the subject of the poem "Brass Spittoons" make per day?
(a) $1.
(b) $2.
(c) $3.
(d) 50 cents.

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

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

5. The poem entitled "Love" describes the emotion of love as what kind of a wonder?
(a) Wild.
(b) Beautiful.
(c) Mysterious.
(d) Sly.

6. When the speaker of the poem "Sylvester's Dying Bed" wakes up, by whom is he surrounded?
(a) Family members.
(b) Lovers.
(c) Doctors.
(d) Women from the town.

7. What are the four stanza titles within the poem "A House in Taos"?
(a) Rain, hail, moon, and wind.
(b) Rain, snow, moon, and wind.
(c) Rain, sleet, moon, and wind.
(d) Rain, sun, moon, and wind.

8. In the poem "Midnight Dancer," Hughes uses what object to act as a simile involving breasts?
(a) Pillows.
(b) Cups of black coffee.
(c) Aquamarines.
(d) Clouds.

9. The poem "Daybreak in Alabama" features a speaker who hopes to one day be what?
(a) An adult.
(b) Married.
(c) A composer.
(d) Respected.

10. In what position is the subject of the poem "Troubled Woman"?
(a) She is sitting.
(b) She is lying down.
(c) She is standing.
(d) She is floating in the air.

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

12. What event occurred to stop the speaker of the poem "Madam's Past History" from running her first business?
(a) World War II.
(b) Prohibition.
(c) World War I.
(d) The Depression.

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

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

15. 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 mind.
(b) His passion.
(c) His soul.
(d) His aura.

Short Answer Questions

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

2. What is the middle initial of the speaker in the poem "Madam's Past History"?

3. The "bitter river" (50) in the poem of the same name is said to "reflect no" (50) what?

4. What kind of job does Mary Lulu Jackson tell her mother she would like to have?

5. For what reason does the speaker of the poem "Madam and the Rent Man" refuse to pay rent?

(see the answer keys)

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