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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 8 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Which techniques are evident in line 4, "To bend and barter at desire's call"?
(a) Asyndeton and euphony.
(b) Alliteration and personification.
(c) Personification and asyndeton.
(d) Euphony and alliteration.

2. What are the sex workers wearing on their feet?
(a) Light shoes meant to be worn indoors.
(b) Thick-soled shoes that make them appear taller.
(c) Boots meant to protect them from snow and rain.
(d) Elaborate shoes with high heels.

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

4. Which lines of each stanza are indented?
(a) The first and third.
(b) The fifth and sixth.
(c) The first and sixth.
(d) The second and fourth.

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

Short Answer Questions

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

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

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

4. What does the word "shod" in line 12 refer to?

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

Short Essay Questions

1. How does McKay convey the idea that these women are sex workers?

2. What indications does the speaker give that he feels the sex workers' choices indicate something about all Black people in America?

3. What does the poem conclude is the cause of the women's choice to pursue sex work?

4. Where is Harlem and why is it significant to the meaning of this poem?

5. What is the poem's first image, and how does it set a tone for the rest of the poem?

6. How does the second stanza set up a contrast between dark and light?

7. How does the use of the word "prowling" contrast with the poem's previous descriptions of the women?

8. Describe the form of this poem.

(see the answer keys)

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