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This quiz consists of 5 multiple choice and 5 short answer questions through Section 1: "Harlem Shadows," Lines 1-18.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What does the expression "feet of clay" in line 15 refer to?
(a) A hidden character flaw.
(b) A delicate, easily-fractured nature.
(c) Stubbornness and selfishness.
(d) Cowardice and fear.

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

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

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

5. What is being referred to with the expression "silver break" (line 7)?
(a) Headlights.
(b) Streetlights.
(c) Reflections.
(d) Dawn.

Short Answer Questions

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

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

3. Which lines of each stanza are indented?

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

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

(see the answer key)

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