Question

In Langston Hughes's "Theme for English B," where and when the speaker lives makes the assignment

(A) humorous, because asking the speaker to write about himself is an exercise in absurdity.
(B) meaningless, because the speaker's teacher is a bigot who will not even bother to read his piece.
(C) simple, because the speaker is intelligent enough to attend Columbia University, a prestigious school near Harlem.
(D) difficult, because these things make the speaker question what is true about his own identity.

Answer 1

The answer is D. By writing this assignment the teacher makes the student wonder about the controversy about race in the United States at that moment. The student reflects on this paper about what makes an American, concluding that both his teacher (white) and him ("colored") are part of it, regardless the color of their skin.