Harlem Renaissance Study Guide

Multiple ChoiceIdentify the choice that best completes the statement or answers the question.

Recall and Interpret ( A black man talks of reaping)

____ 1. In “A black man talks of reaping,” the word “I” refers toa. a cotton farmer.b. all African American farm workers.c. all humans.d. anyone who works in agriculture.

____ 2. The time frame covered in this poem isa. before the Civil War. c. harvest.b. planting time. d. unlimited time.

____ 3. When the speaker says “beside all waters,” he means thata. African American workers have farmed in many places.b. those who farm along the Mississippi River.c. people cannot farm beside the ocean.d. all rivers flow down to the sea.

____ 4. The speaker fears wind and birds because theya. eat corn from the cob. c. blow away seeds.b. crush wheat crops. d. cause serious erosion.

____ 5. The speaker saves his crop bya. watering heavily in the morning. c. planting late in the spring.b. putting a scarecrow in the field. d. planting the seeds very deep.

____ 6. What is the mood of this poem?a. happy c. despairingb. concerned d. indignant

____ 7. From the lines “small wonder then my children glean in fields/they have not sown…,” the reader can infer all of the following EXCEPT thata. African Americans work as field hands.b. African Americans do not own their own landc. many African Americans are involved in agriculture.d. the lives of African Americans are steadily improving.

____ 8. The children eat “bitter fruit” because theya. have nothing else to eat. c. they are being punished.b. have no hope of true success. d. must eat what they are served.

Vocabulary ( A black man talks of reaping)

____ 9. When seeds are sown, they area. planted. c. stored.b. purchased.

____ 10. To suffer through a lean year is to havea. bad weather. c. an unproductive season.b. a large crop.

____ 11. When a person reaps what he sows, hea. produces clothes. c. plows his fields.b. harvests his crop.

Recall and Interpret (Any Human to Another)

____ 12. The theme of “Any Human to Another” is thata. The speaker wants people to recognize his emotions.b. African Americans are happy and sad.c. all humans feel the same emotions.d. few people share their deepest thoughts.

____ 13. The line “like sea and river” refers toa. a person drowning in his own tears.b. the lack of emotion found in nature.c. an attempt to wash away grief.d. the blending of two people’s emotions.

____ 14. When the speaker talks of “A little tent pitched in a meadow,” he means thata. people cannot survive all alone.b. camping is one way of communing with nature.c. people have a right to do what they wish.d. people do better living by themselves.

____ 15. When the speaker says “Joy may be shy,” he means thata. unfriendly people never feel joy.b. shy people feel more joy than outgoing people.c. few people come to truly know joy.d. joy and sorrow are experienced in equal portions.

____ 16. To what item does the speaker compare grief?a. a sword c. bonesb. arrows d. a crown

____ 17. The lines “My sorrow must be laid/On your head like a crown” refer toa. individual demands of friendship.b. shared burdens of sorrow.c. unwritten laws of social behavior.d. dumping one’s burdens on someone else.

____ 18. In general, the speaker feels that all people have emotions, particularlya. sympathy. c. love.b. joy. d. sorrow.

Vocabulary (Any Human to Another)

____ 19. If a lightning bolt fused a wire to a metal plate, the wire wasa. blended with the metal. c. electrified.

b. separated from the metal.

____ 20. Ellen was known for having diverse talents. Her talents werea. common and boring. c. artistic and intellectual.b. different and varied.

____ 21. If a piece of jewelry is unique, it isa. unlike any other jewelry. c. made of gold and diamonds.b. a copy of a famous gem.

____ 22. When the butcher unsheathed his knife, he a. placed it into a wooden knife block. c. removed it from a protective case.b. sharpened it with a whetstone.

Recall and Interpret (from Dust Tracks on a Road)

____ 23. “Dust Tracks on a Road” meansa. a poorly paved city alley.b. the path Zora Neale Hurston walked as she grew up.c. the footprints a child leaves on a path.d. the history of education in rural Florida.

____ 24. The reader knows that visitors are important at the school because thea. children must wash, dress better, and wear shoes.b. teacher has the children give the visitors gifts.c. children put on a play to impress the visitors.d. parents offer a special treat to impress the visitors.

____ 25. The teacher ensures the best behavior of the children by thea. promise of candy. c. threat of a whipping.b. promise of extra recess. d. threat of telling the parents.

____ 26. How does the reader know that Hurston grew up in a segregated area?a. She knew only three white people as a child.b. She gets rides to the end of the road in white people’s cars.c. Her grandmother scolds her for her behavior.d. She learns to read the Greco-Roman myth.

____ 27. Calhoun is upset when the two Minnesota women visit becausea. he was not prepared for them to come.b. he had planned to test the students.c. most of the children were not in the school.d. the classroom had not been properly cleaned.

____ 28. Young Zora is fascinated by the women’sa. fancy jewelry. c. long, thin fingers.b. pale skin. d. expensive leather shoes.

____ 29. After her visit to the hotel, the women give Zora aa. slate for writing her lessons. c. new dictionary.b. pair of shoes. d. roll of new pennies.

____ 30. Of the gifts she receives in the big package, Zora most values the

a. red coat. c. hat and scarf.b. books. d. patent leather shoes.

Vocabulary (from Dust Tracks on a Road)

____ 31. To be exalted is toa. be humbled. c. he spared troubles.b. be held high in esteem.

____ 32. If students snicker at someone’s mistakes, theya. shy away from the embarrassment. c. laugh in a snide manner.b. refuse to watch.

____ 33. When Charlie said he was indifferent about music, he meant that hea. had no feeling about it. c. had great musical talent.b. was enthusiastic about it.

____ 34. We were surprised by the boy’s brazenness toward his teacher because he a. waved in a friendly manner. c. acted in a defiant way.b. spoke in a gentle tone.

Recall and Interpret (I, Too)

____ 35. What does the phrase “darker brother” imply?a. a relationship between all people c. two brothers in the same familyb. close family ties d. people with no relationship

____ 36. The meaning of “I, too, sing America,” is thata. African Americans know patriotic music.b. Hughes wants to be a citizen.c. African Americans are part of the American culture.d. everyone in America sings the same songs.

____ 37. What does the meal eaten in the kitchen represent?a. a long heritage of being treated as second-class citizensb. the work of African Americans as cooks and butlersc. the lack of social manners by many peopled. a failure to understand African American culture

____ 38. The speaker believes that in the future he willa. recognize his enemies. c. know more about history.b. learn table manners. d. be included in American culture.

____ 39. How does Hughes say the speaker deals with being sent to the kitchen?a. sorrow c. laughterb. anger d. revenge

____ 40. The phrase “grow strong” means toa. acquire better muscles. c. eat better food.b. become more powerful. d. learn from past treatment.

____ 41. The people will be ashamed by theira. reaction to the speaker’s attractiveness.

b. failure to recognize the speaker.c. ignorance of proper manners.d. treatment of African Americans in the past.

____ 42. In this poem, “I” isa. all Americans. c. just Hughes.b. people who entertain others. d. only brothers.

Recall and Interpret (If We Must Die)

____ 43. The speaker urges his fellow African Americans not to be likea. dogs on the hunt. c. pigs being slaughtered.b. cowards in battle. d. monsters in the night.

____ 44. The mad and hungry dogs area. people who oppress African Americans.b. animals on the city streets.c. people who steal from others.d. police and government officials.

____ 45. The speaker wishes his people toa. work harder. c. give up easily.b. help their oppressors. d. die nobly.

____ 46. What reaction does the speaker expect from defying the “monsters”?a. anger c. fearb. respect d. anxiety

____ 47. The speaker compares civil rights toa. causing trouble. c. fighting a lopsided battle.b. facing a wall. d. understanding various cultures.

____ 48. The last two lines of the poem are an example ofa. an heroic couplet. c. an extended metaphor.b. terza rima. d. tercet.

Vocabulary (If We Must Die)

____ 49. To behave nobly is to acta. with superior morals or character. c. in one’s own personal interests.b. against the wishes of others.

____ 50. To be constrained from acting is to be a. refused or rejected. c. encouraged or praised.b. forced or limited.

____ 51. A person who dines with his kinsmen is one who eats witha. enemies from past battles. c. people of a similar background.b. friends on a sports team.

Recall and Interpret (My City)

____ 52. The phrase “endless night” is a metaphor for

a. sorrow. c. sleeping.b. darkness. d. death.

____ 53. What verse form does Johnson use for My City?a. English sonnet c. quatrainb. terza rima d. Petrachan sonnet

____ 54. What city does the speaker celebrate?a. Boston c. Atlantab. New York City d. Chicago

____ 55. The “threshold” is a doorway toa. death. c. nightmares.b. exhaustion. d. sleep.

____ 56. The speaker offers a several images of things he will not miss, including all EXCEPTa. cows. c. raindrops.b. flowers. d. birds.

____ 57. What is noticeable about all the images in the first stanza?a. They are all aspects of nature.b. They can all be found in a city park.c. They are all items from the speaker’s youth.d. They are all romantic in nature.

____ 58. The phrase “patient herds” refers toa. people on a street. c. cows in a pasture.b. barnyard animals. d. children at play.

____ 59. What does the speaker say he will miss if he dies?a. the peace of the country c. the majesty of the mountainsb. the bustle of the city d. the rolling ocean waves

____ 60. How does the speaker present a balanced view of the city?a. He compares the city both in day and night.b. He knows that people from all walks of life live in cities.c. He talks about sights and sounds.d. He mentions both shining towers and slums.

Vocabulary (My City)

____ 61. If a girl makes subtle changes to her hair, she makes changes that area. barely noticeable. c. dreadfully obvious.b. clearly dramatic.

____ 62. When the speaker presented the stark truth about Manhattan, he wasa. making a nice compliment. c. telling the complete truth.b. speaking an unpleasant truth.

____ 63. When Will tried to explain his unutterable sorrow, he could not because his loss wasa. too distant to be completely remembered.b. too recent for him to deal with it.c. too deep to be put into words.

Recall and Interpret (Stanzas from a Black Epic)

____ 64. The Jacob Lawrence collection was unique because it was the firsta. painting by an African American artist.b. African American collection owned by the Museum of Modern Art.c. art produced in the twentieth century.d. collection based on historic events.

____ 65. Which of these was a major theme of Lawrence’s art?a. the Great Migration c. cotton farmingb. the Civil War d. dancing

____ 66. Lawrence’s work is considered an “epic” because ita. deals with classic heroes.b. revolves around the life of one person.c. is a united body of work on a common theme.d. creates the same effect as larger paintings.

____ 67. Lawrence received art training ata. his local high school. c. the Metropolitan Museum of Art.b. the Harlem Art Workshop. d. a local art dealer’s studio.

____ 68. The subjects of Lawrence’s paintings are based on events Lawrence discovered through a. history classes. c. a book of hymns.b. his imagination. d. his southern heritage.

____ 69. Lawrence’s art collection can be compared toa. stanzas in an epic poem. c. parts of a symphony.b. lyrics to a song. d. pages in a book.

____ 70. Key themes that appear in Lawrence’s work area. religion and poverty. c. sorrow and anger.b. work and play. d. permanence and resistance.

Recall and Interpret (The Negro Speaks of Rivers)

____ 71. What is the tone of “The Negro Speaks of Rivers”?a. resentful c. angryb. thoughtful d. aggressive

____ 72. The “I” in this poem representsa. Hughes. c. the human race.b. African Americans. d. no one in particular.

____ 73. “I’ve known rivers” means thata. Hughes has worked on rivers.b. humanity has evolved where these rivers run.c. rivers have been more important in the past.d. conservation of water resources is important to the speaker.

____ 74. How does Hughes depict ancient time?a. “My soul has grown deep” c. “all golden in the sunset”

b. “I built my hut” d. “when dawns were young”

____ 75. Which phrase indicates prehistoric times?a. “it lulled me to sleep”b. “older than the flow of human blood in human veins”c. “and raised the pyramids above it”d. “I heard the singing of the Mississippi”

____ 76. Which rivers represent civilizations in Africa?a. the Euphrates and the Ganges c. the Mississippi and the Euphratesb. the Ganges and the Mississippi d. the Nile and the Congo

____ 77. The speaker mentions Abraham Lincoln because Lincolna. decided to end slavery when he visited New Orleans as a young man.b. stood up against the southern states in the Civil War.c. represent the North and the end of segregation.d. had traveled the Mississippi River from Illinois to New Orleans.

____ 78. The speaker refers to rivers as “dusky” because ancient riversa. bear the color of a long history.b. are usually polluted.c. have darker water than recent rivers.d. move slowly and are full of silt.

Vocabulary (The Negro Speaks of Rivers)

____ 79. To lull a child’s fears is toa. soothe the fears away. c. create new fears.b. worsen the fears.

____ 80. If a man returns to the bosom of his childhood, he is going to thea. family he grew up with. c. heart of his youth.b. location of his youth.

____ 81. A dusky hue isa. pale but colorful. c. bright and shiny.b. dark or murky.

Recall and Interpret (The Tropics in New York)

____ 82. Where does the reader assume the speaker comes from originally?a. the American West c. upstate New Yorkb. a southern state d. a Caribbean island

____ 83. The items mentioned in the first three lines are significant because they are alla. common vegetables. c. tropical products.b. exotic spices. d. native plants.

____ 84. To the speaker, bananas and cocoa representa. his home. c. difficult times.b. his future. d. childhood poverty.

____ 85. Where is the speaker in the poem?

a. in an orchard picking fruitb. in a citrus fruit grovec. in a farmer’s market in Puerto Ricod. outside a fruit store in New York

____ 86. The speaker describes the rolling hills of his island home asa. hazy. c. nun-like.b. familiar. d. golden.

____ 87. What is the attitude of the speaker in “The Tropics in New York”?a. reserved c. gruesomeb. homesick d. lighthearted

____ 88. When the speaker feels these memories of home, hea. bows his head and cries.b. smiles in a wry way.c. laughs aloud in public.d. purchases some of his favorite fruits.

Vocabulary (The Tropics in New York)

____ 89. When a person gives a benediction at a meal, he or she is giving aa. compliment to the cook. c. blessing over the food.b. serving of meat.

Recall and Interpret (When the Negro Was in Vogue)

____ 90. In the late 1920s, what occurred that negatively changed the lives of both African Americans and whites?a. popular dance clubs c. the stock market crashb. national radio broadcasts d. outstanding Broadway musicals

____ 91. Among the most popular African American singers of the time werea. Bessie Smith and Louis Armstrong.b. Hall Johnson and William Grant Still.c. Katharine Cornell and Margaret Wycherly.d. Mrs. Leslie Carter and W. Somerset Maugham.

____ 92. White people in Manhattan were drawn to Harlem bya. fancy restaurants. c. the Metropolitan Museum of art. b. the Cotton Club. d. schools and universities.

____ 93. Which African American singer-piano player seemed to make a major impression on Hughes?a. Gladys Bentley c. Jacob Lawrenceb. George Gershwin d. Heywood Broun

____ 94. African American dancers made cards offering to teach tourists how to do thea. Charleston. c. turkey trot.b. lindy-hop. d. fox trot.

____ 95. According to Hughes, the interest in Harlem did not last becausea. Harlem clubs closed.b. people became interested in Russia.c. it was a fad.

d. the Harlem Renaissance ended abruptly.

Vocabulary (When the Negro Was in Vogue)

____ 96. A woman dressed in vogue is dresseda. in the current fashion. c. in loose-fitting trousers.b. in shabby attire.

____ 97. An impromptu party is helda. after much planning. c. with no preparation.b. in a public site.

____ 98. When wealthy whites brought their patronage to Harlem, they brought theira. friends. c. business.b. interest.

____ 99. If you have a scintillating conversation, that conversation isa. boring. c. important.b. brilliant.

____ 100. When the country celebrate the millennium, it was honoring a. an epoch of war. c. a period of peace.b. an era of exploration.