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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 8 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

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

2. What are the sex workers wearing on their feet?

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

Short Essay Questions

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

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

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

4. Describe the form of this poem.

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

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

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

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Some might argue that McKay's use of traditional meter and rhyme is a kind of prison for his ideas, forcing them into rigid forms that are no longer necessary in the Modern era. But other critics have argued that McKay uses these traditional techniques as a kind of clever mask--his poems have the presentation of the traditional British poetry he studied in school, but this traditional presentation masks revolutionary ideas. In the case of "Harlem Shadows," which perspective do you find more accurate? Write an essay that takes a position on the effectiveness of the traditional rhyme and meter in the poem, making clear whether or not it serves a useful function as a way to make McKay's ideas more palatable to audiences outside of his own Black community. Support your arguments with both quoted and paraphrased evidence from both poems, and be sure to cite all evidence--including any outside sources you may choose to consult--in MLA format.

Essay Topic 2

Read Claude McKay's poem "On Broadway" (widely available online). In this poem, you will also see a speaker immersed in a New York environment, observing a nighttime scene. You will see the personification of desire as well as references to feet, the heart, and ceaseless motion. All of these elements are very like "Harlem Shadows"--but the intent of "On Broadway" is very different. Write an essay comparing and contrasting these two poems. Show how it is possible for two poems by the same author to have so many elements in common and yet convey very different ideas about life. Be sure to support your assertions with evidence from both poems and to cite your sources in MLA format.

Essay Topic 3

In "Harlem Shadows," how does the personification in the first stanza create an aura of sympathy around the sex workers' situation? Does that sympathy continue throughout the poem? What feelings are attributed to the women? Are their voices ever heard? How is the choice to attribute feelings to them and not let them speak for themselves consistent with the purpose of the personification in the first stanza? How do other techniques, like antithesis, metonymy, synecdoche, diction, imagery, and symbolism work together with that personification to remove agency from the sex workers? How does this loss of agency support the poem's meaning? Write an essay in which you consider how McKay uses personification and other rhetorical devices to create a unified picture of the sex workers as more object than subject. Use both quoted and paraphrased evidence to support your claims, making sure to cite quoted evidence in MLA format.

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