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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 speaker of the poem "Juke Box Love Song" is addressing a woman who, according to him, is NOT what?

2. What religious allusion does the poem "To Artina" include?

3. What word is spelled out at the end of the poem entitled "Dream Boogie"?

4. The speaker of the poem "Juke Box Love Song" states that he will "make a crown" (95) using what materials?

5. What word is used to describe the "eyes" (116) of terror in the poem entitled "Mississippi"?

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. Discuss two examples of personification within the poem entitled "Georgia Dusk."

4. In what way is the theme of collectivism present within the poem entitled "To You"?

5. In what way is the theme of isolation depicted within the poem entitled "Kid in the Park"?

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

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

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

9. What is the setting of the poem entitled "Projection"?

10. In what way could the poem "To Artina" be said to display a feminist message?

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

Look carefully at the passages and poems within the collection that demonstrate the damaging nature of the exoticism of black people within America. What is the author's purpose for discussing at length the nature of the connection between racism and the exoticism of African-Americans within society?

Essay Topic 3

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.

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