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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. Which lines of each stanza are indented?
2. What does the expression "feet of clay" in line 15 refer to?
3. What are the sex workers wearing on their feet?
4. Which techniques are evident in line 4, "To bend and barter at desire's call"?
5. What is being referred to with the expression "silver break" (line 7)?
Short Essay Questions
1. How does the second stanza set up a contrast between dark and light?
2. Where is Harlem and why is it significant to the meaning of this poem?
3. How does the use of the word "prowling" contrast with the poem's previous descriptions of the women?
4. What indications does the speaker give that he feels the sex workers' choices indicate something about all Black people in America?
5. How does McKay convey the idea that these women are sex workers?
6. What does the poem conclude is the cause of the women's choice to pursue sex work?
7. Describe the form of this poem.
8. What is the poem's first image, and how does it set a tone for the rest of the poem?
Essay Topics
Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:
Essay Topic 1
What is the purpose of including musical devices like alliteration, assonance, consonance, and sibilance in "Harlem Shadows"? If McKay wanted the reader to notice these, why not make them more obvious? What value might they serve at an almost subliminal level? How does the effect they create support the poem's subject matter and tone, and what does it add to the reader's understanding of the poem's meaning? Write an essay in which you consider how McKay employs these devices, and why. Support your observations with both quoted and paraphrased evidence drawn from throughout the poem, and be sure to cite quoted evidence in MLA format.
Essay Topic 2
Is the speaker of "Harlem Shadows" Claude McKay himself? Use evidence from both the poem and research on McKay's ideas to construct a convincing argument about whether or not McKay can reasonably be said to be the speaker of the poem. You do not have to prove that, without a doubt, McKay is or is not the speaker. You are only trying to demonstrate what the balance of the evidence implies. Support your arguments with both quoted and paraphrased evidence from the poem, and be sure to cite all evidence--including outside sources--in MLA format.
Essay Topic 3
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.
This section contains 1,003 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) |