Harlem Hopscotch Quizzes

Harlem Hopscotch Quiz

1 How does the poem explore the theme of childhood?

By having the speaker be a young child addressing adults

By using incomplete, childlike sentences

By juxtaposing a children's game with adult realities

By describing the childlike look of the speaker's adult parents
2 Most of this poem is written in _____

Anapests

trochees

Dactyls

Iambs
3 How many lines does this poem have?

14

18

6

12
4 At what point did Harlem become a primarily African American area?

The late 18th century

World War II

The Civil War

The early 20th century
5 Which of these lines contains a caesura?

That's what hopping's all about

Curse and cry and then jump two

Another jump, now to the left

Everybody for hisself
6 What does Harlem symbolize in this poem?

Family history

Artistic development

Racial inequality

Cultural diversity
7 Who inhabited Manhattan prior to European settlement?

The Lakota

The Lenape

Manhattan was uninhabited

The Houma
8 What can hopscotch best be said to symbolize in this poem?

The joy that can be found in spite of racism

Childhood

The artistic and imaginative motivation that can be found in formal limitation

The maneuvers and norms Black people feel obliged to follow
9 Which sound creates alliteration in the line "Curse and cry and then jump two."

S

R

T

C
10 What type of stanzas does this poem contain?

Two tercets and three couplets

Four quintains

Quatrains and a couplet

A sextet and an octave
11 What is the meter of the poem's final line?

Iambic tetrameter

Trochaic pentameter

Dactylic hexameter

Iambic pentameter
12 Which poetic device plays the most prominent role in this poem?

Personification

Simile

Extended metaphor

Ekphrasis
13 Which of the following does the poem imply about racism and poverty?

That the two forces are inextricable from each other

That there is only a minor relationship between these issues

That racism is a much bigger problem than poverty

That getting out of poverty can compensate for being a victim of racism
14 In which way does this poem differ from a traditional English sonnet?

Its use of metaphor

Its volta

Its length

Its meter
15 What is most likely meant by the phrase "Good things for the ones that's got."?

People who already have good things will obtain more of them

That people who have won one game of hopscotch have an advantage in the next

That kind and generous people will end up reaping rewards

That the speaker is distributing good things to people who will pay for them
16 For two centuries after Europeans arrived, what was Harlem used for?

Commercial development

Agricultural land

Religious sites like monasteries

Military defenses
17 Which word does NOT describe the poem's tone?

Thoughtful

Tender

Critical

Commanding
18 Which sound creates assonance in the line "One foot down, then hop! It's hot."

O

P

N

F
19 How is the poem's premise an example of understatement?

It understates the effects of racism and poverty by comparing them to a game

It understates the stakes of the game by not revealing how close the speaker is to losing

It understates the dangers of the speaker's life by indicating that they are very young

It understates the speaker's victory through a modest tone
20 Where does the poem take place?

New York

Alabama

New Orleans

Los Angeles
21 Which of the following is an example of situational irony?

The players' decision to play hopscotch as a team sport

The speaker's sarcasm when reassuring the other players

The speaker's assertion that exiting the game is a way to win it

The revelation that the speaker is not in Harlem at all
22 What is this poem's rhyme scheme?

AABBCCDDEEFFGG

ABABA CDCDC EE

ABA CAC AB AC

AAABB AAABB CDCCC CDCCC ABCDA
23 Where is this poem's volta?

After the third line

After the sixth line

After the twelfth line

After the eighth line
24 What does the line in the game symbolize?

The loving restrictions of a family home

The limits on socially acceptable behavior for Black people

The boundaries the speaker must create with overbearing friends

The edge of Harlem and the start of non-Black areas in Manhattan
25 By using hopscotch as an extended metaphor, which of the following does Angelou imply?

That children should not play dangerous games

That the norms governing race and class are arbitrary, restrictive, and ridiculous

That Harlem's families are too poor to afford new toys

That racism, despite its problems, can sometimes seem like an enjoyable game

Harlem Hopscotch Questions and Answers

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Study Guide for Harlem Hopscotch

Harlem Hopscotch study guide contains a biography of Maya Angelou, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis.

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