Question

from the negro artist and the racial mountain
by langston hughes

as you read, highlight words and phrases that illustrate the theme of hughes’s essay
and keep track of historical and cultural forces, such as the great migration, spirituals,
blues, and jazz.

langston hughes, 1947
most of my own poems are racial in theme and treatment, derived from the life i know. in many of
them i try to grasp and hold some of the meanings and rhythms of jazz. i am as sincere as i know
how to be in these poems and yet after every reading i answer questions like these from my own
people: do you think negroes should always write about negroes? i wish you wouldn’t read some
of your poems to white folks. how do you find anything interesting in a place like a cabaret? why
do you write about black people? you aren’t black. what makes you do so many jazz poems?

let the tales of negro jazz bands and the bellowing voice of bessie smith singing
blues penetrate the closed ears of the colored near intellectual until they listen and
perhaps understand. let paul robeson singing water boy and rudolph fisher
writing about the streets of harlem, and jean toomer holding the heart of georgia in
his hands, and aaron douglas drawing strange black batterse create the song
negro middle class to turn from their white, respectable ordinary books and papers
to catch a glimpse of their own beauty

• the negro artist and the racial

mountain, langston hughes

according to the passage, what have been the effects of middle - class black american
reading only white books and papers? choose two correct answers

• black americans have

been led to believe only
white culture is
respectable.

• black americans of all

social classes have
resisted their own
heritage

• black american

intellectuals have failed
to connect with their
own heritage

• black american artists

are all upper class

Explanation:

To solve this, we analyze the passage and options:

1. Analyze "Black Americans have been led to believe only White culture is respectable": The passage says "Negro middle class to turn from their own, respectable ordinary books and poems to catch a glimpse of this own beauty" (implying they valued White - centered works over their own, so this is correct).
2. Analyze "Black American intellectuals have failed to connect with their own heritage": The focus on middle - class reading White - centered works and the call to embrace their own culture (like jazz, blues, Black art) suggests intellectuals (part of the middle class context) disconnected from their heritage, so this is correct.
3. "Black Americans of all social classes have resisted their own heritage" is wrong as the passage focuses on the middle class, not all classes.
4. "Black American artists are all upper class" is wrong as the passage doesn't state this.

Answer:

A. Black Americans have been led to believe only White culture is respectable
C. Black American intellectuals have failed to connect with their own heritage

(Note: Assuming the first option is A, second is C, third is B, fourth is D based on typical multiple - choice numbering. Adjust identifiers if the original options have different labels.)