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

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

3. In line 1, "footsteps of a lass" is an example of which technique?
(a) Alliteration.
(b) Sibilance.
(c) Synesthesia.
(d) Onomatopoeia.

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

5. 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.

Short Answer Questions

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

2. Which lines of each stanza are indented?

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

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

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

Short Essay Questions

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

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

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

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

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

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

7. Describe the form of this 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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