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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. 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) Paradox.
(d) Antithesis.

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

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

4. 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.

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

Short Answer Questions

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

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

3. What color does the speaker assign to the sex workers' feet?

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

5. What does the expression "feet of clay" in line 15 refer to?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. Describe the form of this poem.

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

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

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

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

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

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

(see the answer keys)

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