Question

To what does the poet compare farming in “A Black Man Talks of Reaping”?

A. making clothing and household goods
B. the work of African Americans
C. selling fruit at a farm stand
D. catching and cooking fish

Answer 1

B the work of African Americans

Answer 2

The correct answer is B.

In this poem, the author compares farming with the work African Americans were forced to do as slaves.

The speaker of the poem explains that, even though he had plants so many seeds it could cover all the land from Mexico to Canada, the reaping he obtains in minimal.

This is a metaphor for the long hours of hard work that African Americans were forced to do for the minimal amount of profit.