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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What type of crop is being harvested in the poem entitled "Share-Croppers"?

2. What literary technique is used throughout the poem "Ballad of the Fortune Teller"?

3. The poem entitled "Snail" states that the snail knows two things. What are they?

4. How many rooms does the house have that is featured in the poem entitled "Madam and the Rent Man"?

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

Short Essay Questions

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

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

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

4. In what way are sensory details used within the poem entitled "Harlem Night Song"?

5. What is the Existential viewpoint of the poem entitled "I Dream a World"?

6. To what element does Hughes compare the object of a drum in the poem entitled "Drum"?

7. In what way are the themes of brutality and oppression intertwined within the poem "Ku Klux"?

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

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

10. In what way is the water motif included within the very first poem in the collection?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss how and why Hughes instills three different humanist messages into the collection entitled Vintage Hughes.

Essay Topic 2

Analyze Hughes's focus on the theme of brutality in the collection entitled Vintage Hughes. What message is Hughes sending about change and about one other theme of your choice?

Essay Topic 3

How is the topic of motherhood treated within the collection entitled Vintage Hughes and how does its treatment relate to the collection’s depicted messages?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 849 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample