There is substantial evidence that by 1926, with the publication of The Weary Blues, Langston Hughes had broken with two well-established traditions in African American literature. In The Weary Blues, Hughes chose to modify the traditions that decreed that African American literature must promote racial acceptance and integration, and that, in order to do so, it must reflect an understanding and mastery of Western European literary techniques and styles. Necessarily excluded by this decree, linguistically and thematically, was the vast amount of secular folk material in the oral tradition that had been created by Black people in the years of slavery and after. It might be pointed out that even the spirituals or "sorrow songs" of the slaves-as distinct from their secular songs and stories-had been Europeanized to make them acceptable within these African American traditions after the Civil War. In 1862 northern White writers had commented favorably on the unique and provocative melodies of these "sorrow songs" when they first heard them sung by slaves in the Carolina sea islands. But by 1916, ten years before the publication of The Weary Blues, Hurry T. Burleigh, the Black baritone soloist at New York's ultrafashionable Saint George's Episcopal Church, had published Jubilee Songs of the United States, with every spiritual arranged so that a concert singer could sing it "in the manner of an art song." Clearly, the artistic work of Black people could be used to promote racial acceptance and integration only on the condition that it became Europeanize. Even more than his rebellion against this restrictive tradition in African American art, Hughes's expression of the vibrant folk culture of Black people established his writing as a landmark in the history of African American literature. Most of his folk poems have the distinctive marks of this folk culture's oral tradition : they contain many instances of naming and enumeration, considerable hyperbole and understatement, and a strong infusion of street-talk rhyming. There is a deceptive veil of artlessness in these poems. Hughes prided himself on being an impromptu and impressionistic writer of poetry. His, he insisted, was not an artfully constructed poetry. Yet an analysis of his dramatic monologues and other poems reveals that his poetry was carefully and artfully crafte. In his folk poetry we find features common to all folk literature, such as dramatic ellipsis, narrative compression, rhythmic repetition, and monosyllabic emphasis. The peculiar mixture of irony and humor we find in his writing is a distinguishing feature of his folk poetry. Together, these aspects, of Hughes's writing helped to modify the previous restrictions on the techniques and subject matter of Black writers and consequently to broaden the linguistic and thematic range of African American literature.
单选题
The author mentions which one of the following as an example of the influence of Black folk culture on Hughes's poetry?
【正确答案】
C
【答案解析】关于黑人文化对休斯诗歌的影响,作者举了休斯使用名字和列举的这个例子。从第二段第二句“Most of his folk poems have the distinctive marks of this folk culture's oral tradition: they contain many instances of naming and enumeration…”中可知答案为C。
单选题
The author suggests that the "deceptive veil" (Paragraph 2) in Hughes's poetry obscures
【正确答案】
B
【答案解析】作者说休斯的诗中有“欺骗性的面纱”,是指其诗中掩藏着他创作时所投注的深思熟虑。从第二段“Yet an analysis of his dramatic monologues and other poems reveals that his poetry was carefully and artfully crafted.”可知,尽管休斯自称写诗时从不准备,自由随性,但其实是经过了精细的雕琢的。
单选题
The author most probably mentions the reactions of northern White writers to non-Europeanized "sorrow songs" in order to ______.
【正确答案】
B
【答案解析】作者提到美国北方白人作家对于“非欧洲化”的黑人灵歌的反应,是为了进行对比。早期他们很欣赏此类歌曲,在内战结束后,他们逐渐将欧洲化的歌曲视为可以接受的版本。第一段中“It might be pointed out that...had been Europeanized to make them acceptable within these African American traditions after the Civil War.”一句指出这些歌曲欧洲化之后才能被接受,之后一句即举了北方白人作家态度的转变过程的例子。
单选题
The passage suggests that the author would be most likely to agree with which one of the following statements about the requirement that Black writers employ Western European literary techniques?
【正确答案】
A
【答案解析】..modify the traditions that decreed that African American literature must promote racial acceptance and integration,and that, in order to do so, it must reflect an understanding and mastery of Western European literary techniques and styles.”可知,黑人作家写作时必须使用西方的文学技巧,完全是为了种族接纳和融合的原因,是社会而非美学的因素。
单选题
Which one of the following aspects of Hughes's poetry does the author appear to value most highly?
【正确答案】
D
【答案解析】从第二段“Hughes's expression of the vibrant folk culture of Black people established his writing as a landmark in the history of African American literature.”可知作者认为休斯对黑人民间文化的表达具有标志性的重要意义,故答案为D。