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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. The speaker of the poem entitled "The South" says that the South smells of what scent?
(a) Magnolias.
(b) Clean laundry.
(c) Gumbo.
(d) Oppression.

2. What adjective is used to describe the place to which the Ku Klux Klan members take the speaker of the poem entitled "Ku Klux"?
(a) Lonesome.
(b) Dark.
(c) Crowded.
(d) Bereft.

3. What is the main metaphor running through the narrative of the poem "Mother to Son"?
(a) Telephones.
(b) Clouds.
(c) Sunshine.
(d) Stairs.

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

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

Short Answer Questions

1. In what position is the subject of the poem "Troubled Woman"?

2. How old were the two boys to whom the poem "The Bitter River" is dedicated?

3. What is the second business that the speaker of the poem "Madam's Past History" had tried to run?

4. The poem entitled "Share-Croppers" contains how many stanzas?

5. The poem entitled "Freedom's Plow" repeats several times that it is better to die free than to what?

Short Essay Questions

1. With what countries does the speaker of the poem "Good Morning Revolution" ally himself?

2. In the poem entitled "Widow Woman," how is the technique of hyperbole utilized?

3. In what way is the water motif depicted differently within the poem "The Bitter River" than in many other works within the Vintage Hughes collection?

4. In what way is repetition used within the poem entitled "Brass Spittoons"?

5. What types of sensory details are featured within the poem entitled "Graduation," and for what purpose are these details included?

6. In what way is the theme of peace depicted in the poem called "Death of an Old Seaman"?

7. What is the main literary device Hughes uses within the poem entitled "Joy"?

8. In what way does the speaker of the poem "Daybreak in Alabama" want to commemorate the beauty of the titular subject?

9. How is the theme of family bonds depicted within the poem entitled "Mother to Son"?

10. The poem entitled "I, Too" is a response to a poem by what famous American author?

(see the answer keys)

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