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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. The woman within the poem "Madam and the Census Man" tells the census man not to write down what title on the census form?

2. To whom is the poem "Late Last Night" addressed?

3. The trumpet player featured within the poem of the same name is said to play music that "is honey mixed with" (82) what?

4. What state is focused upon within the poem that contains as its first three lines, "Oh, what sorrow!/Oh, what pity!/O, what pain" (115)?

5. A particular speaker within the poem entitled "Junior Addict" comments that "It's easier to get dope than it is to get a" (132) what?

Short Essay Questions

1. Characterize the two speakers within the poem entitled "Question and Answer."

2. For what purpose does Hughes use allusion within the poem entitled "Projection"?

3. The poem entitled "Trumpet Player" uses what kind of metaphor to describe the qualities of music?

4. In what way does the poem entitled Madam and the Census Man" display the theme of pride in identity?

5. What is the main message of the poem entitled "Without Benefit of Declaration"?

6. For what purpose does Hughes invoke a large number of allusions within the poem entitled "Final Call"?

7. Discuss the way in which the theme of appearance versus reality appears within the poem entitled "Dinner Guest: Me."

8. To whom is the poem entitled "Late Last Night" addressed?

9. Discuss the appearance of the theme of redemption within the poem entitled "Life is Fine."

10. What possibilities does Hughes imagine in relation to a "dream deferred" (108) in perhaps his most famous poem, entitled "Harlem [2]"?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Sensory details are used frequently by Hughes in order to create vivid pictures and feelings for the reader. Choose three moments in which sensory details are heavily used and discuss how the sensory details used by the author within the collection Vintage Hughes serve Hughes’s purpose.

Essay Topic 2

Discuss Hughes's messages about guilt and responsibility within the collection Vintage Hughes. Focus especially on events such as Cora’s inability to save Jessie from her hateful and reputation-obsessed mother.

Essay Topic 3

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?

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