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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) A hidden character flaw.
(b) A delicate, easily-fractured nature.
(c) Cowardice and fear.
(d) Stubbornness and selfishness.

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

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

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

5. What ideas are associated with the snow in this poem?
(a) Circumstance, poverty, and innocence.
(b) Prejudice, indifference, and suffering.
(c) Heaven, purity, and nature.
(d) Punishment, corruption, and justice.

Short Answer Questions

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

2. In line 1, "footsteps of a lass" is an example of which technique?

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

4. Which lines of each stanza are indented?

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

(see the answer key)

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