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

Harlem is a historically Black, poor neighborhood in Upper Manhattan. Because at the time McKay was writing it was deeply identified with segregated Blackness and its resultant poverty, the location suggests that the sex workers pursue their work due to their circumstances rather than due to personal preference.

2. Describe the form of this poem.

This poem is 18 lines of rhymed iambic pentameter split into three six-line stanzas--two sexains and a sestet. The stanzas are rhymed ABABCC, DEDECC, FGFGCC.

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

The first image is an auditory image of "halting footsteps" in the night. This sets an uncertain and lonely tone that, despite the later description of more people in the scene, carries through the poem and conveys how isolated the women out working on the streets are all night.

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