21. Document Project 21: The New Negro and the Harlem Renaissance

Quiz for Document 21.7: Langston Hughes, “The Negro Speaks of Rivers,” 1921

Choose the best answer to each question.

1. What was Langston Hughes most likely describing in his poem “The Negro Speaks of Rivers”?

The history of African Americans

The struggle for racial equality

An American slave narrative

The fluidity of race in different times and places

2. What does Hughes mean by his inclusion of the Mississippi River in his discussion of the rivers that he has known?

He lives in New Orleans at the mouth of the river.

All Americans are indebted to the Mississippi.

Black roots are in America as well as Africa.

He wants to spread his ashes in the river.

3. How does Hughes’s reference to his deep soul and the rivers he has known fit within the context of the Harlem Renaissance?

It shows the migration patterns of African Americans around the world.

It emphasizes that African slaves helped build the Egyptian pyramids.

It reflects the importance of Abraham Lincoln in black history.

It reveals the length, depth, and significance of African American contributions.

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