English 1001—Great American Authors

Discussion Questions for Selected Poems by Langston Hughes, "Afro-American Fragments"

1. To which remnants of African culture do African Americans still have a connection?

2. What do rivers represent in "The Negro Speaks of Rivers"?

3. How does Hughes evoke different rhythms in "Danse Africaine"?

4. Whom does the poem "October 16" address?

5. The two stanzas in "Dream Variations" repeat each other up to a point. What changes from the first stanza to the next?