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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. Where did Hughes go to live when he was in second grade?

2. What happened when Hughes picked up Jocko at the pet shop?

3. What was in the third box Nagary showed to Hughes and Pey the evening they spent in Burutu?

4. When did Hughes finally leave Mexico to return to America?

5. How old was Hughes when he sailed away from America?

Short Essay Questions

1. 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?

2. While sailing along the African shore, what did the crew do from port to port? What did Hughes realize about the black Africans?

3. Describe Hughes's childhood. With whom did he live? How did he begin to be a reader? Where did he attend school?

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

5. How did Hughes react to being thought of as Mexican on his way home from Mexico? How did he use this misidentity to his advantage?

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

7. Who was Florence Embry Jones? Who were some of the musicians Hughes heard because of Florence?

8. 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?

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

10. What were the three tragedies Hughes described happening in the village before his departure back to the states?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

One of the issues Hughes raised again and again in his book was that of race. He often remarked on the color of his skin, whether he was a "black man" in one country and not in another. What are some of the major threads of the theme of race that run through Hughes's book? Why are they an important part of Hughes's autobiography?

Essay Topic 2

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 3

During his time at college, Hughes was introduced to a woman, whose name he did not reveal, who would become his patron and allow him to write without fears of poverty. Discuss this woman and her relationship with Hughes. Describe her and her interest in Hughes and his writing. How did the two of them communicate with each other? How did the relationship finally end?

(see the answer keys)

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