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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What are the four stanza titles within the poem "A House in Taos"?
(a) Rain, sun, moon, and wind.
(b) Rain, hail, moon, and wind.
(c) Rain, sleet, moon, and wind.
(d) Rain, snow, moon, and wind.

2. What type of crop is being harvested in the poem entitled "Share-Croppers"?
(a) Cotton.
(b) Corn.
(c) Blueberries.
(d) Wheat.

3. The poem "Lover's Return" is written from the point of view of what type of person?
(a) A man.
(b) A sailor.
(c) A shoeshine boy.
(d) A woman.

4. From what object were the two boys hung to whom the poem "The Bitter River" is dedicated?
(a) A flag pole.
(b) A lamp post.
(c) A tree.
(d) A bridge.

5. The "bitter river" (50) in the poem of the same name is said to "reflect no" (50) what?
(a) Stars.
(b) Justice.
(c) Faces.
(d) Sunshine.

Short Answer Questions

1. The speaker of the poem entitled "The South" says that the South smells of what scent?

2. What kind of job does Mary Lulu Jackson tell her mother she would like to have?

3. What advice does the gypsy give to the speaker of the poem entitled "Bad Luck Card"?

4. The speaker of the poem "Negro" states that he has been a singer "all the way from Africa" (5) to where?

5. The speaker of the poem "Merry-Go-Round" asks about the whereabouts of what section on the Merry-Go-Round?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is the Existential viewpoint of the poem entitled "I Dream a World"?

2. In what way is the theme of racially-motivated brutality present within the poem entitled "The Bitter River"?

3. In what way is the water motif depicted differently within the poem "The Bitter River" than in many other works within the Vintage Hughes collection?

4. What action does the speaker of the poem entitled "October 16:The Raid" want the reader to take regarding John Brown?

5. In the poem entitled "Widow Woman," how is the technique of hyperbole utilized?

6. What question lies at the heart of the poem entitled "Ku Klux" and to whom is the question being asked?

7. Which two marginalized groups are focused upon within the poem "America"?

8. In what way is repetition used within the poem entitled "Brass Spittoons"?

9. In what way is irony utilized within the poem entitled "The South"?

10. The poem entitled "I, Too" is a response to a poem by what famous American author?

(see the answer keys)

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