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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. On his first day in Paris, where did Hughes go?

2. What did Hughes do after the end of his freshman year at Columbia?

3. What did the sailors do on the first day out of the harbor on the way to Africa?

4. Which of Hughes's relatives became Dean of the first law school at Howard University?

5. What was the "mother ship?"

Short Essay Questions

1. Who was Edward? How did Hughes meet him?

2. What happened when Hughes picked up Jocko from the pet shop in New York? How did he raise the money to get home?

3. Who did Hughes stand in line to see at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York? What did he think of the performance?

4. How did Hughes react to being in college at Columbia University? What were the problems he identified?

5. What were the contents of the one box Hughes brought with him on the ship? What was he thinking about as he threw the contents of the box off of the S.S. Malone into the ocean?

6. What happened aboard the S.S. Malone the week before the ship reached the Virgin Islands on its return to New York?

7. Who was Frau Schultz? What role did she play in Hughes's life?

8. Who were the Reeds? Why did Hughes know them? What important event in Hughes's life as a young child happened while he knew the Reeds?

9. What was Hughes's life like during his senior year in high school, which was also the end of the war?

10. Where did Hughes find a more permanent job in Paris? What were his initial job duties? What important new perk did this job offer him?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Hughes met a child, Edward, while in an African port. Hughes said his meetings with Edward inspired his best short story "African Morning." What was Edward's story? Why did Hughes find Edward's situation especially painful? Why did his encounter with Edward inspire a story?

Essay Topic 2

Hughes approached the subject of his relationship with his father over the years of his growing up in poverty. Discuss Langston Hughes's relationship with his father James. In what ways are they similar? How do their differences showcase who Langston Hughes is?

Essay Topic 3

In his autobiography, Hughes only mentions two women in whom he was romantically interested: Suzanna Jones from high school and Mary in Paris. The more important relationship was with Mary. Discuss their relationship. Who was Mary, and how did they meet? Did Hughes reveal how he really felt about Mary? What happened to their love affair, and how did it affect Hughes?

(see the answer keys)

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