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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. Whose presence is implied in "To bend and barter at desire's call" (line 4)?
(a) Clients.
(b) Police officers.
(c) Bystanders.
(d) Pimps.

2. In the first image of the sex workers, what is being emphasized?
(a) Their reaction to the cold.
(b) The burden of social expectations.
(c) Their determination.
(d) The motion of their bodies.

3. Which two lines of each stanza create a kind of refrain in this poem?
(a) The first and sixth.
(b) The first and third.
(c) The fifth and sixth.
(d) The second and fourth.

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

5. What is being referred to with the expression "silver break" (line 7)?
(a) Dawn.
(b) Streetlights.
(c) Headlights.
(d) Reflections.

Short Answer Questions

1. Which lines of each stanza are indented?

2. In lines 2 and 3, the expression "when the night lets fall/ Its veil" is an example of which technique?

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

4. In line 16, what word does the speaker use to describe the feet of his own race?

5. What ideas are associated with the snow in this poem?

(see the answer key)

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