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There is substantial evidence that by 1926, with
the publication of TheWeary Blues, Langston
Hughes had broken with two well-established
traditions in African American literature. In The
Weary Blues, Hughes chose to modify the traditions
that decreed that African American literature must
promote racial acceptance and integration, and that,
in order to do so, it must reflect an understanding
and mastery of Western European literary
techniques and styles. Necessarily excluded by this
decree, linguistically and thematically, was the vast
amount of secular folk material in the oral tradition
that had been created by Black people in the years of
slavery and after. It might be pointed out that even
the spirituals or “sorrow songs” of the slaves—as
distinct from their secular songs and stories—had
been Europeanized to make them acceptable within
these African American traditions after the Civil
War. In 1862 northernWhite writers had
commented favorably on the unique and provocative
melodies of these “sorrow songs” when they first
heard them sung by slaves in the Carolina sea
islands. But by 1916, ten years before the publication
of TheWeary Blues, Harry T. Burleigh, the Black
baritone soloist at New York’s ultrafashionable Saint
George’s Episcopal Church, had published Jubilee
Songs of the United States, with every spiritual
arranged so that a concert singer could sing it “in the
manner of an art song.” Clearly, the artistic work of
Black people could be used to promote racial
acceptance and integration only on the condition that
it became Europeanized.
Even more than his rebellion against this
restrictive tradition in African American art,
Hughes’s expression of the vibrant folk culture of
Black people established his writing as a landmark in
the history of African American literature.Most of
his folk poems have the distinctive marks of this folk
culture’s oral tradition: they contain many instances
of naming and enumeration, considerable hyperbole
and understatement, and a strong infusion of
street-talk rhyming. There is a deceptive veil of
artlessness in these poems. Hughes prided himself on
being an impromptu and impressionistic writer of
poetry. His, he insisted, was not an artfully
constructed poetry. Yet an analysis of his dramatic
monologues and other poems reveals that his poetry
was carefully and artfully crafted. In his folk poetry
we find features common to all folk literature, such
as dramatic ellipsis, narrative compression, rhythmic
repetition, and monosyllabic emphasis. The peculiar
mixture of irony and humor we find in his writing is a
distinguishing feature of his folk poetry. Together,
these aspects of Hughes’s writing helped to modify
the previous restrictions on the techniques and
subject matter of Black writers and consequently to
broaden the linguistic and thematic range of African
American literature.
Kudos if you liked the question!
1. The author mentions which one of the following as
an example of the influence of Black folk culture on
Hughes’s poetry?
(A) his exploitation of ambiguous and deceptive
meanings
(B) his care and craft in composing poems
(C) his use of naming and enumeration
(D) his use of first-person narrative
(E) his strong religious beliefs
2. The author suggests that the “deceptive veil” (line 42)
in Hughes’s poetry obscures
(A) evidence of his use of oral techniques in his
poetry
(B) evidence of his thoughtful deliberation in
composing his poems
(C) his scrupulous concern for representative
details in his poetry
(D) his incorporation of Western European literary
techniques in his poetry
(E) his engagement with social and political issues
rather than aesthetic ones
3. With which one of the following statements
regarding Jubilee Songs of the United States would the
author be most likely to agree?
(A) Its publication marked an advance in the
intrinsic quality of African American art.
(B) It paved the way for publication of Hughes’s
TheWeary Blues by making African American
art fashionable.
(C) It was an authentic replication of African
American spirituals and “sorrow songs.”
(D) It demonstrated the extent to which spirituals
were adapted in order to make them more
broadly accepted.
(E) It was to the spiritual what Hughes’s The
Weary Blues was to secular songs and stories
4. The author most probably mentions the reactions of
northernWhite writers to non-Europeanized “sorrow
songs” in order to
(A) indicate that modes of expression acceptable in
the context of slavery in the South were
acceptable only to a small number of White
writers in the North after the CivilWar
(B) contrastWhite writers’ earlier appreciation of
these songs with the growing tendency after
the CivilWar to regard Europeanized versions
of the songs as more acceptable
(C) show that the requirement that such songs be
Europeanized was internal to the African
American tradition and was unrelated to the
literary standards or attitudes of White
writers
(D) demonstrate that such songs in their non-
Europeanized form were more imaginative
than Europeanized versions of the same songs
(E) suggest thatWhite writers benefited more
from exposure to African American art forms
than Black writers did from exposure to
European art forms
5. The passage suggests that the author would be most
likely to agree with which one of the following
statements about the requirement that Black writers
employWestern European literary techniques?
(A) The requirement was imposed more for social
than for aesthetic reasons.
(B) The requirement was a relatively unimportant
aspect of the African American tradition.
(C) The requirement was the chief reason for
Hughes’s success as a writer.
(D) The requirement was appropriate for some
forms of expression but not for others.
(E) The requirement was never as strong as it may
have appeared to be.
6. Which one of the following aspects of Hughes’s
poetry does the author appear to value most highly?
(A) its novelty compared to other works of African
American literature
(B) its subtle understatement compared to that of
other kinds of folk literature
(C) its virtuosity in adapting musical forms to
language
(D) its expression of the folk culture of Black
people
(E) its universality of appeal achieved through the
adoption of colloquial expressions
the publication of TheWeary Blues, Langston
Hughes had broken with two well-established
traditions in African American literature. In The
Weary Blues, Hughes chose to modify the traditions
that decreed that African American literature must
promote racial acceptance and integration, and that,
in order to do so, it must reflect an understanding
and mastery of Western European literary
techniques and styles. Necessarily excluded by this
decree, linguistically and thematically, was the vast
amount of secular folk material in the oral tradition
that had been created by Black people in the years of
slavery and after. It might be pointed out that even
the spirituals or “sorrow songs” of the slaves—as
distinct from their secular songs and stories—had
been Europeanized to make them acceptable within
these African American traditions after the Civil
War. In 1862 northernWhite writers had
commented favorably on the unique and provocative
melodies of these “sorrow songs” when they first
heard them sung by slaves in the Carolina sea
islands. But by 1916, ten years before the publication
of TheWeary Blues, Harry T. Burleigh, the Black
baritone soloist at New York’s ultrafashionable Saint
George’s Episcopal Church, had published Jubilee
Songs of the United States, with every spiritual
arranged so that a concert singer could sing it “in the
manner of an art song.” Clearly, the artistic work of
Black people could be used to promote racial
acceptance and integration only on the condition that
it became Europeanized.
Even more than his rebellion against this
restrictive tradition in African American art,
Hughes’s expression of the vibrant folk culture of
Black people established his writing as a landmark in
the history of African American literature.Most of
his folk poems have the distinctive marks of this folk
culture’s oral tradition: they contain many instances
of naming and enumeration, considerable hyperbole
and understatement, and a strong infusion of
street-talk rhyming. There is a deceptive veil of
artlessness in these poems. Hughes prided himself on
being an impromptu and impressionistic writer of
poetry. His, he insisted, was not an artfully
constructed poetry. Yet an analysis of his dramatic
monologues and other poems reveals that his poetry
was carefully and artfully crafted. In his folk poetry
we find features common to all folk literature, such
as dramatic ellipsis, narrative compression, rhythmic
repetition, and monosyllabic emphasis. The peculiar
mixture of irony and humor we find in his writing is a
distinguishing feature of his folk poetry. Together,
these aspects of Hughes’s writing helped to modify
the previous restrictions on the techniques and
subject matter of Black writers and consequently to
broaden the linguistic and thematic range of African
American literature.
Kudos if you liked the question!
1. The author mentions which one of the following as
an example of the influence of Black folk culture on
Hughes’s poetry?
(A) his exploitation of ambiguous and deceptive
meanings
(B) his care and craft in composing poems
(C) his use of naming and enumeration
(D) his use of first-person narrative
(E) his strong religious beliefs
2. The author suggests that the “deceptive veil” (line 42)
in Hughes’s poetry obscures
(A) evidence of his use of oral techniques in his
poetry
(B) evidence of his thoughtful deliberation in
composing his poems
(C) his scrupulous concern for representative
details in his poetry
(D) his incorporation of Western European literary
techniques in his poetry
(E) his engagement with social and political issues
rather than aesthetic ones
3. With which one of the following statements
regarding Jubilee Songs of the United States would the
author be most likely to agree?
(A) Its publication marked an advance in the
intrinsic quality of African American art.
(B) It paved the way for publication of Hughes’s
TheWeary Blues by making African American
art fashionable.
(C) It was an authentic replication of African
American spirituals and “sorrow songs.”
(D) It demonstrated the extent to which spirituals
were adapted in order to make them more
broadly accepted.
(E) It was to the spiritual what Hughes’s The
Weary Blues was to secular songs and stories
4. The author most probably mentions the reactions of
northernWhite writers to non-Europeanized “sorrow
songs” in order to
(A) indicate that modes of expression acceptable in
the context of slavery in the South were
acceptable only to a small number of White
writers in the North after the CivilWar
(B) contrastWhite writers’ earlier appreciation of
these songs with the growing tendency after
the CivilWar to regard Europeanized versions
of the songs as more acceptable
(C) show that the requirement that such songs be
Europeanized was internal to the African
American tradition and was unrelated to the
literary standards or attitudes of White
writers
(D) demonstrate that such songs in their non-
Europeanized form were more imaginative
than Europeanized versions of the same songs
(E) suggest thatWhite writers benefited more
from exposure to African American art forms
than Black writers did from exposure to
European art forms
5. The passage suggests that the author would be most
likely to agree with which one of the following
statements about the requirement that Black writers
employWestern European literary techniques?
(A) The requirement was imposed more for social
than for aesthetic reasons.
(B) The requirement was a relatively unimportant
aspect of the African American tradition.
(C) The requirement was the chief reason for
Hughes’s success as a writer.
(D) The requirement was appropriate for some
forms of expression but not for others.
(E) The requirement was never as strong as it may
have appeared to be.
6. Which one of the following aspects of Hughes’s
poetry does the author appear to value most highly?
(A) its novelty compared to other works of African
American literature
(B) its subtle understatement compared to that of
other kinds of folk literature
(C) its virtuosity in adapting musical forms to
language
(D) its expression of the folk culture of Black
people
(E) its universality of appeal achieved through the
adoption of colloquial expressions
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10 Feb 2021, 02:24
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Search befor posting new topic, this topic has been discussed already, see in the link below.
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Topic is locked and archived.
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Archived Topic
Hi there,
This topic has been closed and archived due to inactivity or violation of community quality standards. No more replies are possible here.
Where to now? Join ongoing discussions on thousands of quality questions in our Reading Comprehension (RC) Forum
Still interested in this question? Check out the "Best Topics" block above for a better discussion on this exact question, as well as several more related questions.
Thank you for understanding, and happy exploring!
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