English III Spring Semester Exam Review

The Things They Carried (20 matching and 15 multiple-choice questions)

Harlem Renaissance Poetry (30 multiple-choice questions)

Be familiar with the subjects and themes of each of the following poems. Know literary and poetic devices.

Multiple Choice Stems:

Claude McKay:“The Tropics in New York”

36. Who is the speaker in “The Tropics in New York” who remembers mangoes from his past?

  1. In “The Tropics of New York,” what memories of his tropical home does the speaker long to experience?
  2. Which poetic structure describes “The Tropics in New York”?
  3. In “The Tropics in New York,” the speaker remembers the homeland’s skies as being
  4. Which line from “The Tropics in New York” reveals that the speaker is not in the tropics when the poem is written?

Countee Cullen: “From the Dark Tower”

  1. In “From the Dark Tower,” as the poet describes the history of African Americans, what are seeds most likely being compared to in this line: “And wait, and tend our agonizing seeds” ?
  2. In “From the Dark Tower,” what does the poet mean by saying that the “night … is no less lovely being dark”?
  3. What does the title of “From the Dark Tower” suggest about the poem?
  4. What mental picture is created by these lines from “From the Dark Tower”?

Not everlastingly while others sleep

Shall we beguile their limbs with mellow flute. . .

  1. Which lines in “From the Dark Tower” present a sensory image that conveys the idea of black pride?
  2. Which sensory image in “From the Dark Tower” conveys feelings of both pain and hope?
  3. The sonnet “From the Dark Tower” (pay attention to meter and rhyme)

Langston Hughes: “The Negro Speaks of Rivers”

  1. Who is the speaker in “The Negro Speaks of Rivers”?
  2. In “The Negro Speaks of Rivers,” the poet says rivers are like years and years of events in the lives of Africans and African Americans. What does he compare the rivers to?
  3. The theme of the “The Negro Speaks of Rivers” concerns the
  4. In “The Negro Speaks of Rivers,” which word best describes the speaker’s attitude?
  5. How does the speaker describe the rivers in “The Negro Speaks of Rivers”?
  6. The repetition in “The Negro Speaks of Rivers” creates a mood, or atmosphere, that is

Langston Hughes: “Dream Variations”

  1. In “Dream Variations,” how does the African American poet say he is like the night?
  2. What kind of person is the speaker who wants to “fling [his] arms wide” in “Dream Variations”?
  3. In “Dream Variations,” the speaker sees day as a time to ______.
  4. In “Dream Variations,” which phrase best describes the “dream”?
  5. Which line from “Dream Variations” gives you a clue about what the speaker looks like?
  6. With which statement would the speaker of “Dream Variations” be most likely to agree?

Langston Hughes: “I, Too”

  1. Read the following lines from “I, Too”.

I'll be at the table / When company comes.

What do you think these lines mean within the context of the poem?

  1. Who is the speaker in “I, Too”?
  2. In “I, Too,” the speaker’s perspective is that of
  3. In “I, Too,” what does the word “too” in the first and last lines emphasize in the poem?
  4. What can you infer about the speaker’s attitude from “I, Too”?
  5. In “I, Too,” what does eating in the kitchen represent?

The Catcher in the Rye

Southern Gothic Literature (30 multiple-choice questions)

“A Rose for Emily”

“The Life You Save May Be Your Own”

Be familiar with characteristics of the Southern Gothic genre and plot elements and themes of the

above works.