Langston Hughes – Textbook Pages 816, 823, 833-835

 

Multiple Choice

Identify the choice that best completes the statement or answers the question.

 

Comprehension

The questions below refer to the selections “The Negro Speaks of Rivers”; “the mississippi river empties into the gulf.”

 

____                            1.         One river that is not mentioned in “The Negro Speaks of Rivers” is the —

a.

Rio Grande

c.

Nile

b.

Congo

d.

Mississippi

 

 

____                            2.         What do the rivers named in “The Negro Speaks of Rivers” have in common?

a.

They are in Africa.

b.

They are historically important to the speaker.

c.

They have yearly floods.

d.

Famous dams have been built on them.

 

 

____                            3.         According to the speaker, his soul is like a river because it —

a.

flows gently wherever it can

b.

dries up at times or rushes in torrents at others

c.

has grown deep over time

d.

is hard to contain

 

 

____                            4.         What aspect of human biology does the speaker compare to rivers?

a.

Digestion

c.

Respiration

b.

Reproduction

d.

Circulation

 

 

____                            5.         The line “I looked upon the Nile and raised the pyramids above it” shows that the speaker —

a.

identifies himself with his cultural ancestors

b.

lived thousands of years ago

c.

could not possibly have also seen Abe Lincoln on the Mississippi

d.

is Egyptian

 

 

____                            6.         The words muddy, golden, dusky, and dawns evoke images of —

a.

sight

c.

smell

b.

hearing

d.

ouch

 

 

____                            7.         What form is “The Negro Speaks of Rivers” written in?

a.

Sonnet

c.

Free verse

b.

Ballad

d.

Blank verse

 

 

____                            8.         In “the mississippi river empties into the gulf,” some people “mistakenly” —

a.

go sailing in bad weather

c.

live solely in the present

b.

trust too much in the future

d.

are afraid to risk entering the water

 

 

____                            9.         What quality of rivers is examined in both “The Negro Speaks of Rivers” and “the mississippi river empties into the gulf”?

a.

Unpredictability

c.

Danger

b.

Timeless flow

d.

Economic importance

 

 

____                            10.        The first line of “the mississippi river empties into the gulf,” “and the gulf enters the sea and so forth,” shows you that Lucille Clifton’s poem —

a.

is a narrative

b.

describes the experiences of African Americans

c.

was written earlier than “The Negro Speaks of Rivers”

d.

uses the rhythms of colloquial speech

 

 

Literary Focus: Repetition

The questions below refer to the selections “The Negro Speaks of Rivers”; “the mississippi river empties into the gulf.”

 

____                            11.        One type of repetition is a refrain, which is a(n) —

a.

event that recurs in several parts of a ballad

b.

repeated consonant sound at the beginnings of words

c.

repeated pattern of stressed syllables

d.

repeated line or lines in a poem or song

 

 

____                            12.        What is one refrain in “The Negro Speaks of Rivers”?

a.

“ancient as the world and older than the flow”

b.

“I built my hut near the Congo and it lulled me to sleep.”

c.

“I’ve known rivers.”

d.

“Ancient, dusky rivers.”

 

 

____                            13.        What is another refrain in “The Negro Speaks of Rivers”?

a.

“I’ve seen its muddy bosom turn all golden in the sunset.”

b.

“I bathed in the Euphrates.”

c.

“I heard the singing of the Mississippi.”

d.

“My soul has grown deep like rivers.”

 

 

____                            14.        Which of the following statements describes another type of repetition in the second stanza of “The Negro Speaks of Rivers”?

a.

A different river is named in each of the first four lines.

b.

It has four lines that begin with the pronoun I and a past-tense verb.

c.

The first three lines each end with a period.

d.

The speaker talks about Abe Lincoln.

 

 

Short Answer

 

Constructed Response

The question below refers to the selection “The Negro Speaks of Rivers.”

 

                                    15.        On a separate sheet of paper, tell what emotions you think Langston Hughes was trying to evoke in the reader of “The Negro Speaks of Rivers.” Be sure to mention the words, sounds, and images in the poem that help to evoke those emotions.