Harlem Renaissance Literature Quiz

Grade 11 · English · Quiz

Test your knowledge of the key figures, works, and ideas of the Harlem Renaissance literary movement.

Questions

1. Which concept, introduced by W.E.B. Du Bois, describes the sense of looking at oneself through the eyes of a racist society?

   1. The Talented Tenth
   2. Double Consciousness
   3. Cultural Nationalism
   4. The Veil
   Show answer

   Answer: Double Consciousness

   Du Bois coined 'double consciousness' in 'The Souls of Black Folk' (1903) to describe the psychological tension of Black Americans who must constantly see themselves as others see them.

2. Langston Hughes's poem 'A Dream Deferred' poses a central question about what happens to a dream that is delayed. Which of the following is a simile Hughes uses in this poem?

   1. Does it explode?
   2. Maybe it just sags like a heavy load
   3. Or does it dry up like a raisin in the sun?
   4. Does it stink like rotten meat?
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   Answer: Or does it dry up like a raisin in the sun?

   In 'Harlem' (also called 'A Dream Deferred'), Hughes uses multiple similes including 'dry up like a raisin in the sun' to explore what happens to unfulfilled Black dreams in America.

3. Zora Neale Hurston's anthropological work, which informed her fiction, was mentored by which prominent Columbia University scholar?

   1. W.E.B. Du Bois
   2. Alain Locke
   3. Franz Boas
   4. Booker T. Washington
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   Answer: Franz Boas

   Franz Boas, the founder of modern American anthropology at Columbia, mentored Hurston and encouraged her to document African American folklore, directly shaping her literary voice.

4. Claude McKay's sonnet 'If We Must Die' was written in response to which historical event?

   1. The Great Migration
   2. The Red Summer race riots of 1919
   3. The Tulsa Race Massacre of 1921
   4. The assassination of Medgar Evers
   Show answer

   Answer: The Red Summer race riots of 1919

   McKay wrote 'If We Must Die' during the Red Summer of 1919, when white mobs attacked Black communities across the U.S., as a rallying cry for dignity and resistance.

5. Which magazine, edited by W.E.B. Du Bois, served as a major publishing outlet for Harlem Renaissance writers?

   1. Opportunity
   2. The Messenger
   3. The Crisis
   4. Fire!!
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   Answer: The Crisis

   The Crisis, founded in 1910 as the NAACP's official magazine, was edited by Du Bois and became the most important publication platform for Harlem Renaissance writers.

6. Jean Toomer's 'Cane' (1923) is notable for its innovative structure, which blends which of the following elements?

   1. Short stories, essays, and political manifestos
   2. Poetry, prose sketches, and drama
   3. Autobiography, journalism, and satire
   4. Folk tales, spiritual songs, and journalism
   Show answer

   Answer: Poetry, prose sketches, and drama

   Toomer's 'Cane' is a formally experimental masterpiece that blends lyric poems, prose sketches, and a dramatic piece to capture the Black experience in Georgia and Washington D.C.

7. The Harlem Renaissance was primarily a Southern literary movement centered in cities like Atlanta and Birmingham.

   Show answer

   Answer: False

   The Harlem Renaissance was centered in Harlem, New York City, which became the cultural capital of Black America after the Great Migration brought millions north.

8. Langston Hughes's poem 'I, Too, Sing ________' asserts the speaker's place in the American national identity despite racial exclusion.

   Show answer

   Answer: america

   'I, Too, Sing America' responds directly to Walt Whitman's 'I Hear America Singing,' asserting Hughes's speaker's rightful place in the American democratic vision despite being forced to eat in the kitchen.

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