1 How does the theme of poverty manifest in "The Ballad of the Landlord"? The tenant is wealthier than the landlord and therefore pays him extra rent The landlord holds power over the tenant because of his relative wealth The tenant is able to move out because he is newly rich The landlord becomes poor after all his tenants stop paying rent 2 How does the theme of race appear in the poem? The landlord and the tenant are both Black, but aren't equally wealthy The landlord refuses to rent to the tenant because he is Black The tenant's race leads him to be treated harshly and unfairly The tenant is the only white person in the landlord's building 3 What broad trajectory does the tenant's tone take in the poem? He begins joyful and carefree but turns depressed and tired He begins imploringly but soon becomes happy and relieved He begins angrily but slowly softens as he talks to the landlord He begins patiently and politely but becomes increasingly upset and combative 4 What is the primary effect of the newspaper quotes that make up the poem's final stanza? The quotes reveal the extent of the landlord's corrupt business practices The quotes show how the media and the public at large perceive the tenant The quotes show how the city changes in the decades following the New Deal The quotes suggest that the justice system and the free press must work hand in hand 5 Who is the speaker at the start of the poem? The newspaper reporter The landlord The police officer The tenant 6 What number and type of stanzas does this poem contain? Three couplets followed by four quatrains Two quatrains followed by a sextet Eight quatrains Six quatrains followed by three tercents 7 Which is the rhyme scheme established in the first several stanzas of the poem? ABACAB ABB ABCB AABBA 8 Which types of meter does Hughes use most frequently in this poem? Iambs and Anapests Dactyls and iambs Trochees and iambs Anapests and trochees 9 Which best describes the use of figurative language in the poem? The poem uses only two extended metaphors to compare the landlord and tenant's perspectives The poem uses metaphors to compare the landlord's property to a prison The poem uses personification to make the abandoned building feel ominous The poem avoids figurative language, driving home the inescapable reality of the tenant's life 10 Which of the following devices appears in the phrase "Way last week"? Alliteration Hyperbole Personification Anaphora 11 What alliterative sound appears in the phrase "gonna get eviction orders"? O D V G 12 Why is the poem's songlike form ironic? It evokes the sound of blues music despite the fact that the tenant is evicted for playing his instrument It suggests harmony between the tenants in the building, even though the landlord's policies divide them It elides the increasingly obvious fact of the tenant's lifelong deafness Its pleasant rhythm and rhyme continue unabated even when the tenant's life is unpleasantly derailed 13 The tenant's phrase "You gonna cut off my heat?" is an example of which of the following? Verbal irony Dramatic irony Situational irony None of these 14 Which best describes the poem's setting? An American city in the twentieth century London during World War II New Orleans during the colonial period California during the Gold Rush 15 Who is the poem's antagonist? The judge The mayor The landlord The tenant 16 Which best describes the poem's major conflict? The landlord and tenant's slow realization that they are cousins The landlord's fruitless search for a disruptive tenant The tenant's attempt to force his neglectful landlord into making repairs The landlord's discovery of a murder scene in the tenant's home 17 Which most accurately describes the poem's climax? The tenant's bursting into song The arrival of the police The landlord falling down the stairs The tenant asking the landlord to fix his roof 18 Which is an example of understatement in the poem? Um-huh! You talking high and mighty. Well, that’s Ten Bucks more’n I’ll pay you /Till you fix this house up new. Don’t you ’member I told you about it/ Way last week? Police! Police!/Come and get this man! 19 What role do italics serve in this poem? They show that the landlord is speaking out loud They emphasize the tenant's emotions as he speak They reveal the inner thoughts of the tenant and landlord alike They are used to describe physical actions, mainly by the police 20 What does the poem's shift from quatrains to tercets emphasize? The pattern of waltzing at the landlord's party The removal of the tenant's voice and agency The short, clipped nature of police interrogation The too-early death of the landlord's many renters 21 Which of the following is NOT a major theme of this poem? Religion and spirituality Racism Beauty, art, and injustice Poverty and class 22 The landlord's claim "He’s trying to ruin the government/ And overturn the land!" is an instance of which of the following? Volta Caesura Internal rhyme Hyperbole 23 Which best describes the effect of the short lines in stanzas 7 and 8? They reveal the speaker's exhaustion and confusion They dramatize the abrupt, violent arrival of police They mimic the tiny size of the tenant's apartment They make the lines sound rushed and secretive 24 Which of the following devices are used heavily in the tenant's speech? Personification Rhetorical questions Onomatopoeia Metaphor 25 Which of the following real-world concerns does this poem allude to? Urbanization and deforestation Women's domestic labor Workers' safety Housing rights