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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. How many poems within the collection Vintage Hughes include stage directions regarding a particular element of the poem's performance?

2. At the end of the poem "Life is Fine," the speaker decides that life is "fine as" (88) what?

3. What is the final line of the short poem entitled "Dream Dust"?

4. The Black Panther in the poem of the same name is said to "wear no" (141) what?

5. On what side does the speaker of "Midnight Raffle" say his bread is buttered by the end of the poem?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

3. What does the speaker of the poem entitled "Junior Addict" suggest as the solution for the addiction problem in the subject?

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

5. What historical figure is quoted within the poem that includes the lines "Who would be free/Themselves must strike/The first blow" (136)?

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

7. What state is being described within the poem that contains as its first three lines the words, "Oh, what sorrow!/Oh, what pity!/Oh, what pain" (115)?

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

9. In what way is repetition utilized within the poem entitled "Song for Billie Holiday"?

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 collection's message concerning the link between hope and progress?

Essay Topic 2

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 3

How do the themes of deception and secrecy function within the collection and what is Hughes’s message regarding these themes?

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