93 + Mcqs in African-American Literature in English Literature Page 1 McqOptions

1.	Who introduced the character of the “tragic mulatto” ?
A.	William Wells Brown
B.	Lydia Maria Child
C.	Harriet Jacobs
D.	Harriet Beecher Stowe
Answer» C. Harriet Jacobs

Discussion

2.	Who is the author of the novel Passing ?
A.	William Wells Brown
B.	Nella Larsen.
C.	Charles Chesnutt
D.	James Weldon Johnson
Answer» C. Charles Chesnutt

Discussion

3.	Who wrote Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl ?
A.	Lucy Terry
B.	William Wells Brown
C.	Harriet Wilson
D.	Harriet Jacobs
Answer» E.

Discussion

4.	Who wrote one of the most famous African American poems that begins with “what happens to a dream deferred” ?
A.	Alice Walker
B.	Etheridge Knight
C.	Martin Luther King, Jr.
D.	Langston Hughes
Answer» E.

Discussion

5.	Who wrote Uncle Tom’s Cabin, an indictment of slavery ?
A.	Harriet Beecher Stowe
B.	Richard Wright
C.	Frederick Douglass
D.	Phillis Wheatley
Answer» B. Richard Wright

Discussion

6.	Why did Marcus Garvey spearhead the “Back to Africa Movement” ?
A.	Because in was cheaper to live in Africa.
B.	Because he did not feel African Americans would ever achieve equality in America.
C.	He was asked by African countries to bring African Americans to Africa.
D.	He had to leave the country.
Answer» C. He was asked by African countries to bring African Americans to Africa.

Discussion

7.	Why does Dee want the quilt in Alice Walker’s “Everyday Use” ?
A.	She is proud of her heritage.
B.	She doesn’t want Maggie to have it.
C.	She wants to display it for her friends to see.
D.	She loves the beauty of it.
Answer» D. She loves the beauty of it.

Discussion

8.	Why is the couple in Arna Bontemps’s “A Summer Tragedy” getting dressed up ?
A.	To go to a party.
B.	To go pay old man Stevenson.
C.	To end their lives.
D.	To go to church.
Answer» D. To go to church.

Discussion

9.	Why was it important that slave narratives have a title page that claimed either that the narrative was written by the narrator himself (or his words were recorded by someone close to him, preferably white) ?
A.	So the author could get paid.
B.	In order for people to believe the events in the narratives.
C.	So that slave owners could refute the events in the narratives.
D.	So that the author could be assured he wouldn’t be recaptured.
Answer» C. So that slave owners could refute the events in the narratives.

Discussion

10.	Why was the “drop of blood” rule developed ?
A.	To keep the slave offspring of White slave owners from inheriting.
B.	To allow mixed-race children to get scholarships meant for African Americans.
C.	To make sure mothers of mixed-race children got custody.
D.	To keep White slave owner parents of mixed-race offspring from having to pay for their children.
Answer» B. To allow mixed-race children to get scholarships meant for African Americans.

Discussion

11.	Yusef Komunyakaa’s “Blue Dementia” is an example of what kind of poetry ?
A.	Protest poetry
B.	Romantic poetry
C.	Lyric poetry
D.	Jazz poetry
Answer» E.

Discussion

12.	Which of the following statements about slavery is true ?
A.	Most slave children lived in two family homes.
B.	Slave owners did not allow their slaves to live as married couples.
C.	Slaves were given limited civil rights.
D.	Most slaves were not Christian.
Answer» B. Slave owners did not allow their slaves to live as married couples.

Discussion

13.	Which of the following authors was not of mixed race heritage ?
A.	Jean Toomer
B.	Charles Chesnutt
C.	Booker T. Washington
D.	Frederick Douglass
Answer» D. Frederick Douglass

Discussion

14.	Which is not a characteristic of Realism ?
A.	Characters are not as important as plot.
B.	Presentation is objective.
C.	Ordinary language is used.
D.	Events are plausible.
Answer» B. Presentation is objective.

Discussion

15.	Which characteristic of the slave narrative did Frederick Douglass include in the first chapter of his Narrative ?
A.	Narration of a deserved punishment.
B.	Depictions of a beautiful rural environment.
C.	Descriptions of the kinds of food and clothing slaves were given.
D.	The author’s father is often a white man.
Answer» E.

Discussion

16.	Which author relied on complex characters and dialect to overturn American stereotypes about Southern African Americans ?
A.	William Wells Brown
B.	Richard Wright
C.	Charles Chesnutt
D.	Booker T. Washington
Answer» D. Booker T. Washington

Discussion

17.	What was the Great Migration ?
A.	A period of time when African Americans moved North in large numbers.
B.	When African Americans settled Liberia.
C.	When slaves traveled the Underground Railroad.
D.	When African Americans migrated to the South from the North.
Answer» B. When African Americans settled Liberia.

Discussion

18.	What was special about Zora Neale Hurston’s home town of Eatonville, Florida ?
A.	It was home to the Harlem Renaissance.
B.	Most of its inhabitants worked for White people.
C.	It was primarily African American.
D.	It was destroyed after the Civil War.
Answer» D. It was destroyed after the Civil War.

Discussion

19.	What unforgivable action does Mag Smith take in Chapter One of Our Nig ?
A.	She tries to pass as White.
B.	She washes clothes for White women.
C.	She lets a man help her out.
D.	She marries a Black man.
Answer» E.

Discussion

20.	What source did David Walker rely on the most for support in “Appeal in Four Articles” ?
A.	The Bible.
B.	Greek history.
C.	Slave narratives.
D.	Abolitionist newspapers.
Answer» B. Greek history.

Discussion

21.	What is the subject of Lucille Clifton’s “the lost baby poem” ?
A.	A child dying of SIDS.
B.	The stillborn death of a child.
C.	Abortion.
D.	A murdered child.
Answer» D. A murdered child.

Discussion

22.	What is the character of Delia most of afraid of in Zora Neale Hurston’s “Sweat” ?
A.	Rabid dogs.
B.	Her husband.
C.	Snakes.
D.	Bertha.
Answer» D. Bertha.

Discussion

23.	What does the term “passing” mean ?
A.	The ability of an African American to live as a White person.
B.	To do well on one’s schoolwork.
C.	To leave one’s past behind.
D.	To gain approval from one’s community.
Answer» B. To do well on one’s schoolwork.

Discussion

24.	W.E.B. Du Bois accuses Booker T. Washington of being______________?
A.	A Christian.
B.	A radical.
C.	An accomodationist.
D.	A coward.
Answer» D. A coward.

Discussion

25.	W.E.B. Du Bois argued that a liberal arts college education was needed for______________?
A.	The “Talented Tenth.”
B.	All African Americans.
C.	African American women.
D.	Only White Americans.
Answer» B. All African Americans.

Discussion

26.	Until recent years it was thought that Harriet Jacob’s Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl was____________?
A.	Based on a New England captivity narrative.
B.	An anonymous narrative.
C.	Fiction written by Lydia Maria Child.
D.	Written by Jacob’s son.
Answer» D. Written by Jacob’s son.

Discussion

27.	Uncle Julius is a character developed by______________?
A.	Harriet Beecher Stowe
B.	Joel Chandler Harris
C.	Richard Wright
D.	Charles Chesnutt
Answer» E.

Discussion

28.	The trickster figure is usually_______________?
A.	Amoral (neither good nor evil)
B.	Christian
C.	Evil
D.	None of these
Answer» B. Christian

Discussion

29.	The “tragic mulatto” myth_________________?
A.	Led to novels of passing.
B.	Existed only in fiction by White authors.
C.	Developed in the 20th century.
D.	Existed only in fiction by female authors.
Answer» B. Existed only in fiction by White authors.

Discussion

30.	The theme of Phillis Wheatley’s “On Being Brought from Africa to America” is_______________?
A.	Slaves are capable of becoming good Christians.
B.	Slaves should rebel against the Christian religion.
C.	Slaves are the children of Cain.
D.	Christians should free their slaves.
Answer» B. Slaves should rebel against the Christian religion.

Discussion

31.	The term “Civil Disobedience” was coined by which author ?
A.	William Gates
B.	Henry David Thoreau
C.	Booker T. Washington
D.	Alain Locke
Answer» C. Booker T. Washington

Discussion

32.	The supportive network of female slaves led to_______________?
A.	Resistance to the overseers.
B.	Learning to be midwives.
C.	Resistance against dehumanization.
D.	Lower suicide rates.
Answer» D. Lower suicide rates.

Discussion

33.	The subject of Soujourner Truth’s “Ain’t I a Woman” is_______________?
A.	Women’s rights.
B.	Negro rights.
C.	The right to keep one’s children.
D.	A and B.
E.	The rights of farm hands.
Answer» E. The rights of farm hands.

Discussion

34.	The narrator of Langston Hughes’s “Weary Blues” is describing__________________?
A.	Negro spirituals being sung in the cotton fields.
B.	The call and response of an African American church congregation.
C.	African American toasting on a city street corner.
D.	Blues being played in a Harlem bar.
Answer» E.

Discussion

35.	The most important tenet of the Black Arts Movements is________________?
A.	African American art should exclude women.
B.	African American images should inspire African Americans.
C.	African American art should subvert the art of Europeans and White Americans.
D.	African American literature should replicate educated White language.
Answer» C. African American art should subvert the art of Europeans and White Americans.

Discussion

36.	The mask in Paul Laurence Dunbar’s poem, “We Wear the Mask,” represents_____________?
A.	The persona that the characters show the world.
B.	The carved masks of African gods.
C.	Characters from the Bible.
D.	Who the narrator wishes to be.
Answer» B. The carved masks of African gods.

Discussion

37.	The importance of Lucy Terry’s “Bars Fight” is______________?
A.	The poem is the first-known writing of an African American.
B.	The poem is better than the poems of the more famous Phillis Wheatley.
C.	The poem is the first of many poems by Terry.
D.	The poetry focuses on slave life in the 18th century.
Answer» B. The poem is better than the poems of the more famous Phillis Wheatley.

Discussion

38.	The importance of Lucy Terry’s “Bars Flight” is________________?
A.	The poem’s form of rhymed tetrameter couplets.
B.	The poem shows her future work as a advocate of civil rights.
C.	The poem is filled with Christian symbolism.
D.	The fact that the poem is the most accurate account of the 1742 Indian-White engagement in Deerfield, Massachusetts.
Answer» E.

Discussion

39.	The importance of Freedom’s Journal was____________?
A.	It was the first African American novel.
B.	It was the first African American newspaper.
C.	It was published by Frederick Douglass.
D.	It argued for a separate African American community in America.
Answer» C. It was published by Frederick Douglass.

Discussion

40.	The genre Octavia Butler’s “Bloodchild” is______________?
A.	Mystery.
B.	Science Fiction.
C.	Horror.
D.	Tragedy.
Answer» C. Horror.

Discussion

41.	The fact that Claude McKay visited Russia in 1922 exemplifies the following theme of Modernism_____________?
A.	Collectivism versus the authority of the individual.
B.	The wearing away of traditional class structures.
C.	The impact of WWI and the 1918 Bolshevik Revolution in Russia.
D.	The disassociated, anomic self.
Answer» D. The disassociated, anomic self.

Discussion

42.	“The Day Duke Raised” by Quincy Troupe is a jazz poem because______________?
A.	The poem’s rhythmic lines.
B.	The references to jazz songs and musicians.
C.	The poem can be set to music.
D.	There is repetition.
Answer» B. The references to jazz songs and musicians.

Discussion

43.	The characteristic of Naturalism that is most present in the first chapter of Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man is_____________?
A.	The theme of man against nature.
B.	The theme of man against man.
C.	The theme of heredity.
D.	Nature as an invisible force.
Answer» C. The theme of heredity.

Discussion

44.	The character of Delia in Zora Neale Hurston’s “Sweat” was influenced by______________?
A.	Her relationship with a patron.
B.	Her mother.
C.	Her best friend.
D.	Her job as a waitress.
Answer» B. Her mother.

Discussion

45.	The back to Africa movement was primarily about______________?
A.	Bringing African culture to the United States.
B.	Leaving the African peoples alone.
C.	Writers who took African themes for their work.
D.	Completing an oppressed people’s quest for freedom, liberty and democracy.
Answer» E.

Discussion

46.	Richard Wright said he created the character of Bigger in Native Son because______________?
A.	He had known many “Biggers” in his life.
B.	He was trying to overcome his fears of powerful men.
C.	He was proud of all the African American men he had seen stand up to Whites.
D.	He wanted to show African American males how not to live.
Answer» B. He was trying to overcome his fears of powerful men.

Discussion

47.	Race relations in the North are attacked in_______________?
A.	Harriet Jacob’s Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl.
B.	Harriet Wilson’s Our Nig.
C.	William Wells Brown’s Clotel.
D.	Toni Morrison’s Beloved.
Answer» C. William Wells Brown’s Clotel.

Discussion

48.	Phillis Wheatley’s poetry is considered_____________?
A.	Highly original.
B.	Typical of Colonial poetry.
C.	Progressive and challenging.
D.	Abolitionist in subject.
Answer» C. Progressive and challenging.

Discussion

49.	One of the functions of protest poetry was to________________?
A.	Urge African Americans to fight their oppressors.
B.	Encourage societies strive for equality for all.
C.	Extol the virtues of living in the free North.
D.	Argue that slavery was not so bad for everyone.
Answer» C. Extol the virtues of living in the free North.

Discussion

50.	Neo-Slave narratives are contemporary novels written about slavery. Toni Morrison’s Beloved is about the ghost of a baby the character Sethe murdered to keep her from being recaptured by their master. The opening chapter of the novel represents the neo-slave narrative by its________________?
A.	Discussion of race relations in the North and South.
B.	Condemnation of the plantation myth.
C.	Examination of the psychological damage of slavery.
D.	Insistence on desegregation.
Answer» D. Insistence on desegregation.

Discussion

Explore topic-wise MCQs in English Literature .

Who introduced the character of the “tragic mulatto” ?

Who is the author of the novel Passing ?

Who wrote Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl ?

Who wrote one of the most famous African American poems that begins with “what happens to a dream deferred” ?

Who wrote Uncle Tom’s Cabin, an indictment of slavery ?

Why did Marcus Garvey spearhead the “Back to Africa Movement” ?

Why does Dee want the quilt in Alice Walker’s “Everyday Use” ?

Why is the couple in Arna Bontemps’s “A Summer Tragedy” getting dressed up ?

Why was it important that slave narratives have a title page that claimed either that the narrative was written by the narrator himself (or his words were recorded by someone close to him, preferably white) ?

Why was the “drop of blood” rule developed ?

Yusef Komunyakaa’s “Blue Dementia” is an example of what kind of poetry ?

Which of the following statements about slavery is true ?

Which of the following authors was not of mixed race heritage ?

Which is not a characteristic of Realism ?

Which characteristic of the slave narrative did Frederick Douglass include in the first chapter of his Narrative ?

Which author relied on complex characters and dialect to overturn American stereotypes about Southern African Americans ?

What was the Great Migration ?

What was special about Zora Neale Hurston’s home town of Eatonville, Florida ?

What unforgivable action does Mag Smith take in Chapter One of Our Nig ?

What source did David Walker rely on the most for support in “Appeal in Four Articles” ?

What is the subject of Lucille Clifton’s “the lost baby poem” ?

What is the character of Delia most of afraid of in Zora Neale Hurston’s “Sweat” ?

What does the term “passing” mean ?

W.E.B. Du Bois accuses Booker T. Washington of being______________?

W.E.B. Du Bois argued that a liberal arts college education was needed for______________?

Until recent years it was thought that Harriet Jacob’s Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl was____________?

Uncle Julius is a character developed by______________?

The trickster figure is usually_______________?

The “tragic mulatto” myth_________________?

The theme of Phillis Wheatley’s “On Being Brought from Africa to America” is_______________?

The term “Civil Disobedience” was coined by which author ?

The supportive network of female slaves led to_______________?

The subject of Soujourner Truth’s “Ain’t I a Woman” is_______________?

The narrator of Langston Hughes’s “Weary Blues” is describing__________________?

The most important tenet of the Black Arts Movements is________________?

The mask in Paul Laurence Dunbar’s poem, “We Wear the Mask,” represents_____________?

The importance of Lucy Terry’s “Bars Fight” is______________?

The importance of Lucy Terry’s “Bars Flight” is________________?

The importance of Freedom’s Journal was____________?

The genre Octavia Butler’s “Bloodchild” is______________?

The fact that Claude McKay visited Russia in 1922 exemplifies the following theme of Modernism_____________?

“The Day Duke Raised” by Quincy Troupe is a jazz poem because______________?

The characteristic of Naturalism that is most present in the first chapter of Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man is_____________?

The character of Delia in Zora Neale Hurston’s “Sweat” was influenced by______________?

The back to Africa movement was primarily about______________?

Richard Wright said he created the character of Bigger in Native Son because______________?

Race relations in the North are attacked in_______________?

Phillis Wheatley’s poetry is considered_____________?

One of the functions of protest poetry was to________________?

Neo-Slave narratives are contemporary novels written about slavery. Toni Morrison’s Beloved is about the ghost of a baby the character Sethe murdered to keep her from being recaptured by their master. The opening chapter of the novel represents the neo-slave narrative by its________________?