African American Writers Trivia Quiz

Answer: An Evening Thought

Jupiter Hammon wrote his poem "An Evening Thought" in 1760. He is also famous for his "Address to the Negroes in the State of New York" and promoted gradual emancipation for all slaves.

Jupiter Hammon was born into slavery and served the Henry Lloyd family. He was educated with the family children and also helped his master with business. He served as a preacher for the rest of the slaves in the household, which inspired his poems and his works. He never was emancipated, but his "Address to the Negroes in the State of New York" was widely spread around the thirteen colonies and after the United States became an official nation. His address influenced many people in the North to favor the abolition of the slave trade.

Answer: Phillis Wheatley

Phillis Wheatley was a slave in Boston to the Wheatley family, who taught her to read and write. Education was a very rare thing for slaves, but through the Wheatley family Phillis became familiar with the works of Alexander Pope, John Milton, and Homer.

Influenced by these authors, Phillis began to write poetry and was encouraged by the Wheatley family who recognized her talent. Phillis published her first book of poetry in 1773, "The publication of her Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral". Figures such as George Washington praised her work.

When her master John Wheatley died, the family granted her freedom and Phillis was emancipated.

Answer: Iola Leroy

"Iola Leroy", also known as "Shadows Uplifted", was Frances Harper's first novel. The story is of a young woman with black and white ancestry who is born free but later is kidnapped and forced into being a slave. After she is freed by the Union Army, she embraces her African American heritage and works towards improving African American lives. When a doctor proposes marriage to her and makes it a condition that she can never reveal her African American side, she refuses. She marries a different doctor who is of mixed ancestry as well, and is reunited with her family.

Although this novel mainly focused on the heritage of African Americans, it also addressed social issues of the time which included abolition, education for women, the temperance movement, and the Reconstruction era in the United States.

Answer: True

Frederick Douglass wrote his experience of being a slave in the book "Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave".

Frederick did not know the date of his birth and his mother died when he was very young. He only knew his mother through brief visits when she was alive, and it was believed his father was a white man. As a boy, Douglass witnessed his first brutal beating when he saw his aunt whipped. In his book Douglass narrated how slaves interacted with their masters. Douglass was sold and moved to a family in Baltimore and his owner's wife taught him to read and write. Douglass endured many cruelties from different owners, but eventually escaped north.

Other writers who composed autobiographies about their lives as slaves include Sojourner Truth.

Answer: W.E.B. DuBois

W.E.B. DuBois used his skill as a writer in the "Souls of Black Folk" to promote his ideas and beliefs that African Americans deserved to have equal rights, opportunities for education, and opportunities for advancement. It became a very well known work in literature and persuasive speaking. African Americans were free, but they had to face many racist issues during and after the Reconstruction era. There were many popular beliefs that African Americans could not be educated, be trained for advanced work fields, or adapt to society.

DuBois broke many cultural assumptions about African Americans when he became the first African American to earn a doctorate at Harvard. He used his degree to become a professor of history, sociology, and economics at Atlanta University. DuBois was a promoter of equal rights - he worked toward making it possible for African Americans to achieve the same opportunities as other Americans. He helped found the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), whose stated mission (according to NAACP.org) is to "ensure the political, educational, social, and economic equality of rights of all persons and to eliminate race-based discrimination.".

Answer: Maya Angelou

Maya Angelou is the pen name of Marguerite Ann Johnson, who became well known for several of her autobiographies about her life. "I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings" is Maya's autobiography about her early years growing up in Arkansas to the time when she became a mother at the age of 17.

The book tells how Maya and her bother faced issues such as racism and abuse, but also how they overcame prejudice by learning about strength of character and self confidence. The book also tells how Maya found comfort in dealing with her world through literature and books.

The power of words became Marguerite Johnson's inspiration to become an author and she wrote several works of autobiographies, poems, and speeches. She had the honor of speaking at President Clinton's inauguration in 1993.

Answer: The Color Purple

Alice Walker's novel "The Color Purple" won the 1983 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. The story of the life of an abused black woman in the 1930s brought attention to issues such as sexism, racism, child abuse, and gender roles. The narrator and protagonist, Celli, tells the story of how she was abused by her father, forced to marry a man, and was separated from her sister.

She has a loveless marriage and develops a relationship with another female. She finally finds letters from her sister that her husband hid, telling of her sister Nettie's experience with missionaries. Eventually Celli is reunited with her sister and her family after thirty years.

The book received many awards but it also received many criticisms. For many years it was a target of book censors.

Answer: Their Eyes Were Watching God

Zora Hurston was a well known author from her work during the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s and 1930s, when African American writers used their works to challenge the racial oppression in American society. "Their Eyes Were Watching God" is generally regarded as Hurston's most famous work. Although it was not received well during the time of the book's first initial publishing, it has grown into becoming a classic in African American literature.

The main character, Janie, goes through three different marriages. The first marriage is forced upon her by her grandmother who wants her to have the best things in life. Janie believes marriage should be based on love, but her first husband only wants a work mate. Janie runs away with a man named Jo Starks but she does not find happiness in this marriage either. Jo, her second husband, is more concerned about his image and status than his wife's feelings. After Jo passes away, Janie falls in love with a man known as "Tea Cake" who plays the guitar for her. Tea Cake proves to be the man she has always wanted; however, when he gets rabies from a dog while attempting to save her life, Janie is faced with the difficult decision to kill him in self defense. She is tried for murder but found not guilty. Afterwards her husband's friends who accused her and her white female friends try to help Janie feel accepted again. Janie leaves and tries to return to her old life.

Answer: Invisible Man

Not to be confused with H.G Wells' science fiction novel, "Invisible Man" was a novel Ralph Ellison wrote to confront the views of communism, black nationalism, and reformist racial policies that were highlighted issues for African Americans in the 20th century. It also addressed issues of self identity and individuality. The book was awarded the National Book Award of Fiction in 1953.

The main character of the book is an African American man who sees himself as socially invisible and hides from the world by living underground. He tells the story of his life, in which he has had many conflicts with people who tried to make him something else. At the end of the book he emerges from the underground, realizing the only person he can truly be is himself.

Answer: A Raisin in the Sun

Lorraine Hansberry was inspired to write "A Raisin in the Sun" based on her family's struggles with racial segregation in Chicago.

When an African American family receives money that could help them move out of poverty on Chicago's south side, their mother chooses to invest it in a house. They try to move to a white neighborhood because it is cheaper, but a neighbor tries to buy them out specifically because he believes their race will cause conflict. The family needs the money but is reluctant to take it if it means that they are not accepted for who they are. Beneatha tries to blend in with the white culture until her boyfriend convinces her that materialism is not one of the most important things in life. She accepts his marriage proposal and moves to Nigeria with him to practice medicine, uncertain of what the future may hold.