View a FREE sample

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

Short Answer Questions

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

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

3. When the speaker of the poem "Sylvester's Dying Bed" wakes up, by whom is he surrounded?

4. What two adjectives are part of the poem titled using two words prior to the title's final word, "freedom" (67)?

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

Short Essay Questions

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

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

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

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

5. In what way is the theme of racially-motivated brutality present within the poem entitled "The Bitter River"?

6. 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?

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

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

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

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What is the function of Mrs. Ellsworth’s character within the story entitled "The Blues I’m Playing"? Discuss the characterization methods used by Hughes in depicting Mrs. Ellsworth and include in your discussion the reasons that Hughes portrays Mrs. Ellsworth in these particular ways.

Essay Topic 2

Explicate the theme of hope within the collection Vintage Hughes. What is Hughes’s message regarding hope and how do you know?

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 982 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample