Listening
exercise:
Lives of the Writers: Langston Hughes
(Passage is after all of the poems and 'Dust
in the Wind' on your listening tape)
Vocabulary:
|
Joplin,
Missouri |
to rent The Harpers couple suite project solely to chain-smoke Camel cigarettes Aunt Toy roly-poly striped sailor's jersey to feed cider Baby Grand club to settle down to neighborhood to face racist insult physical attack to deal with constant racial prejudice to leave the scene quiet disgust afterward Atlanta to be stranded at airport taxi passenger to value + gerund to dislike confrontation to be mugged to fight back weapon to take away bomb threat poetry reading to be fired FBI elaborate to keep a file on s.o. information |
from complications
of cancer-related surgery to request memorial service W. C. Handy "St. Louis Blues" (1) played by Louis Armstrong (2) on Coinola C-2 (3) Duke Ellington "Do Nothing Till You Hear From Me" (with audio file, sung by Robbie Williams) to attend to act solemn to play a joke on bookmark anxious "The Negro Speaks of Rivers" (with audio file, read by the poet) teenager to turn out to be autobiography The Big Sea to soothe oneself terrifying to tremble to testify before Senate committee political views clearly inspiration to prefer segregation "Dear Lovely Death" fascinated by to run away to spend the night local morgue Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. civil rights leader speech similarities "I Have A Dream" (audio) to refer to A Raisin in the Sun (movie trailer) broadway play Lorraine Hansberry (video interview) to take its title from |
Listening
comprehension questions:
1. Why do you think Hughes
said, "Children should be born with no parents"?
2. Why did Hughes throw his precious books overboard en route to Africa?
3. What was Hughes's favorite song?
4. Who was Billie Holiday?
5. Find the origin of the expression "A Joseph's coat of many colors".
6. What achievement made Hughes proud?
7. What kind of neighborhoods did Hughes mostly grow up in, and what kinds of
problems did he encounter there?
8. What was one reason why Hughes tried to avoid confrontation?
9. How old was Hughes when he died and what did he die of?
10. According to the passage, what role did trains play in Hughes's life?
11. How did having to testify before a Senate committee affect Hughes?
12. How did Hughes feel about death?