Daybreak in Alabama Quizzes

Daybreak in Alabama Quiz

1 What is the double meaning of “Daybreak in Alabama”?

A shift from night to day as well as a societal shift from division to unity

A new dawn as well as the end of an era

A shift from night to day as well as a shift from day to night

A new dawn as well as a societal shift to a utopian society
2 What type of verse is the poem written in?

Limerick

Acrostic

Sonnet

Free Verse
3 What is the tone of the poem?

Pessimistic, Cynical

Realistic, Somber

Optimistic, Hopeful

Blissfully ignorant
4 What dialect does the speaker use?

Midwestern

Southern United States

African American Vernacular English (AAVE)

French Creole
5 Which color appears the most in the poem?

Blue

Red

Yellow

Green
6 “Rising out of the ground like a swamp mist / And falling out of heaven like soft dew” are examples of …

Metaphors

Hyperboles

Similes

Synecdoches
7 Why is the word “tall” repeated in line 7 (“I’m gonna put some tall tall trees in it”)?

To distinguish between two trees and emphasize their height

To maintain the rhythm of the previous lines and emphasize the height of the trees

For dramatic effect

To distinguish the species of tree and maintain the rhythm of the previous lines
8 When was “Daybreak in Alabama” first published?

It was never formally published

In the journal Unquote in 1940

In Hughes’s final volume of poetry in 1967

In the publication The Crisis in 1940
9 What volume of poetry did Hughes also include “Daybreak in Alabama” in?

HIs final volume titled The Panther and the Lash

His first collection titled The Weary Blues

It was never included in a volume of poetry

In The Big Sea
10 What is the double meaning of “colored” in “Daybreak in Alabama”?

It refers to the colorful nature of the composer’s music and the tainted reputation of his work

It refers to the race of the composer and to the tainted reputation of his work

It refers to the race of the composer and the colorful nature of his compositions

It refers to the colorful nature of the composer’s music and the many colors in nature
11 Which of the following is a motif of the poem?

Daffodils

Red

Tears

Angels
12 Which of the five senses does the speaker not mention?

Taste

Smell

Sight

Touch
13 Which is a major them of the poem?

Family

Struggle

Dissonance

Unity
14 When did “Daybreak in Alabama” strike audiences most?

The Forties, when the poem was published in the journal Unquote

The Twenties, when The Weary Blues was published

The Sixties, when The Panther and the Lash was published

The Fifties, when the Alabama bus boycotts occurred
15 What is another word for mixing of the senses?

Sensory Overload

Synesthesia

Overstimulation

Synecdoche
16 What is red clay?

A type of material used to build houses in the Southern United States

A type of soil found in the Southern United States that is also known as ultisol

A type of dough that is popular in Southern US cuisine

A popular type of pavement used in most public spaces
17 What effect does repeating the first few lines of “Daybreak in Alabama” at the end of the poem have on its meaning?

It offers an alternate interpretation of the concept of daybreak, allowing it to signify social change as well as dawn

It emphasizes the speaker’s admiration for dawn in Alabama

It highlight’s the speaker’s fear of nighttime

It reiterates the speaker’s desire to compose songs about the natural beauty in Alabama
18 The word “purtiest” in the fourth line is a phonetic spelling in AAVE of what word?

Perfect

Prettiest

Perfumed

Pertaining
19 “And the scent of pine needles / And the smell of red clay after rain / And long red necks” is an example of…

Acrostic verse

Anaphora

Alliteration

Assonance
20 Which is a natural motif in the poem?

Dusk

Dust

Swamps

Dew
21 What genre is the poem “Daybreak in Alabama”?

Epistle

Ballad

Lyric

Ode
22 What type of imagery is most prominent in the poem?

Surrealist

Celestial

Grotesque

Natural
23 What point of view is the poem written in?

Third Person Omniscient

First person

Second Person

Third Person Limited
24 Who is the main character of the poem?

The poppies

The trees

The speaker

The dew
25 Which lines are the climax of the poem?

“When I get to be a colored composer / I’m gonna write me some music about / Daybreak in Alabama” lines 1-3

“I’m gonna put tall trees in it / And the scent of pine needles” lines 7-8

“Of black and white black white black people… Touching everybody with kind fingers” lines 14-18

“In that dawn of music when I / Get to be a colored composer” lines 20-21

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