View a FREE sample

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

Multiple Choice Questions

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

2. 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 colored section.
(c) The children's section.
(d) The Jim Crow section.

3. What is the name of the fortune teller's lover in the poem entitled "Ballad of the Fortune Teller"?
(a) Dave.
(b) Wade.
(c) Michael.
(d) Jeff.

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

5. From what object were the two boys hung to whom the poem "The Bitter River" is dedicated?
(a) A lamp post.
(b) A flag pole.
(c) A tree.
(d) A bridge.

Short Answer Questions

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

2. What phrase is repeated three times in the poem entitled "In Time of Silver Rain"?

3. The poem entitled "Heaven" puts forth the proposition that heaven is the place where what emotion is "everywhere" (48)?

4. What advice does the gypsy give to the speaker of the poem entitled "Bad Luck Card"?

5. What is NOT a type of weather featured in the poem entitled "Still Here"?

Short Essay Questions

1. 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?

2. What question lies at the heart of the poem entitled "Ku Klux" and to whom is the question being asked?

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

4. What action does the speaker of the poem entitled "October 16:The Raid" want the reader to take regarding John Brown?

5. In what way is irony utilized within the poem entitled "The South"?

6. The poem "Madam and Her Madam" utilizes humor in what way?

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

8. How is irony used within the poem entitled "Ballad of the Fortune Teller"?

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

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

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 947 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample