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This quiz consists of 5 multiple choice and 5 short answer questions through Section 1: "Harlem Shadows," Lines 1-18.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What does the expression "feet of clay" in line 15 refer to?
(a) Cowardice and fear.
(b) Stubbornness and selfishness.
(c) A delicate, easily-fractured nature.
(d) A hidden character flaw.

2. In lines 2 and 3, the expression "when the night lets fall/ Its veil" is an example of which technique?
(a) Simile.
(b) Personification.
(c) Antithesis.
(d) Paradox.

3. What color does the speaker assign to the sex workers' feet?
(a) Silver.
(b) White.
(c) Gray.
(d) Black.

4. What does the word "shod" in line 12 refer to?
(a) Sound.
(b) Clothing.
(c) Movement.
(d) Footwear.

5. In line 16, what word does the speaker use to describe the feet of his own race?
(a) Aching.
(b) Sacred.
(c) Prideful.
(d) Fearful.

Short Answer Questions

1. What is being referred to with the expression "silver break" (line 7)?

2. Whose presence is implied in "To bend and barter at desire's call" (line 4)?

3. Which line most clearly echoes the tension between "little girls" (line 5) and "prowling" (line 6)?

4. What are the sex workers wearing on their feet?

5. Which two lines of each stanza create a kind of refrain in this poem?

(see the answer key)

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