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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. To what personality does the speaker of the poem "Heart of Harlem" NOT allude within the poem?

2. What type of technique or device is used in the poem entitled "Comment on War"?

3. In the poem entitled "Words Like Freedom," what other word in the poem is italicized, besides the word "freedom" (67)?

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

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

Short Essay Questions

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

2. How are sensory details incorporated into the poem "Daybreak in Alabama" and for what purpose?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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?

Essay Topic 2

Trace the characterization arc of Cora’s character throughout the story "Cora Unashamed." Discuss whether Cora is a round or flat character and whether she is a static or dynamic character.

Essay Topic 3

William Faulkner once famously claimed that the most important literature deals with the subject of the human heart in conflict with itself. Explain how the theme of Human versus Self is demonstrated within the collection entitled Vintage Hughes. Create a decisive, arguable claim and prove it with quotes from the collection.

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