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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. Which techniques are evident in line 4, "To bend and barter at desire's call"?
(a) Asyndeton and euphony.
(b) Alliteration and personification.
(c) Personification and asyndeton.
(d) Euphony and alliteration.

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

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

4. What does the word "shod" in line 12 refer to?
(a) Movement.
(b) Clothing.
(c) Sound.
(d) Footwear.

5. What color does the speaker assign to the sex workers' feet?
(a) Gray.
(b) Silver.
(c) White.
(d) Black.

Short Answer Questions

1. In the first image of the sex workers, what is being emphasized?

2. Which lines of each stanza are indented?

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

4. In line 16, what word does the speaker use to describe the feet of his own race?

5. Whose presence is implied in "To bend and barter at desire's call" (line 4)?

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. Describe the form of this poem.

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

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

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

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

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

(see the answer keys)

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