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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 color does the speaker assign to the sex workers' feet?

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

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

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

5. Which techniques are evident in line 4, "To bend and barter at desire's call"?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

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

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

5. Describe the form of this poem.

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

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

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

There is a long tradition of visual and literary artists using sex workers as symbols. In a patriarchal society where sex work is largely dominated by women and the arts have historically been dominated by men, this means a large number of male painters and writers trying to convey something about the world through the figure of the female sex worker. Is this inherently problematic? Is Claude McKay's use of female sex workers problematic in any way? Do some research into how sex workers have been portrayed in art and literature. Use this background information to develop your own opinion about the reasons these female figures have been used symbolically and the ethical implications of this use. Then, decide to what extent McKay's use of sex workers as symbols falls in line with traditional uses and whether you find his particular use of them to be ethical or unethical. Write an essay in which you take and defend a position on these issues, supporting your assertions with evidence drawn from "Harlem Shadows" and from your background research. Be sure to cite your evidence in MLA format.

Essay Topic 2

How do the particular adaptations McKay made to the sonnet form in "Harlem Shadows" allow him to more effectively communicate his meaning to the reader? How do the added four lines allow him to group ideas in a way that 14 lines would not? How does his rhyme scheme support this grouping of thoughts and also support the additional element of the refrain? How does McKay's use of stanzas support these same elements of the poem? If these goals were important, though, why use the sonnet form at all? Why not just write in free verse and have complete control of the flow of the poem's ideas? Write an essay in which you explore how McKay's adaptation and subversion of the sonnet form reveals the tension between his desire to use traditional forms and his need to clearly communicate his ideas. 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 3

What is the significance of McKay's use of the word "brown" to describe his race? How does this separate the racial idea of "Blackness" from the way dark is being used in the poem? How does using the color white to refer to snow but never using the word "black" to refer to any of the dark things in the poem function in the same way? Write an essay in which you show how McKay is able to use traditional literary symbolism of dark and light/black and white without implying that Blackness in racial terms is associated with any of the negative qualities attributed to darkness or the color black in literature. Support your observations with both quoted and paraphrased evidence drawn from throughout the poem, and be sure to cite quoted evidence in MLA format.

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