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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 line most clearly echoes the tension between "little girls" (line 5) and "prowling" (line 6)?
2. Which techniques are evident in line 4, "To bend and barter at desire's call"?
3. What ideas are associated with the snow in this poem?
4. In line 16, what word does the speaker use to describe the feet of his own race?
5. What are the sex workers wearing on their feet?
Short Essay Questions
1. What indications does the speaker give that he feels the sex workers' choices indicate something about all Black people in America?
2. Describe the form of this poem.
3. What does the poem conclude is the cause of the women's choice to pursue sex work?
4. Where is Harlem and why is it significant to the meaning of this poem?
5. How does McKay convey the idea that these women are sex workers?
6. How does the second stanza set up a contrast between dark and light?
7. What is the poem's first image, and how does it set a tone for the rest of the poem?
8. How does the use of the word "prowling" contrast with the poem's previous descriptions of the women?
Essay Topics
Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:
Essay Topic 1
Write an essay in which you consider the symbolic imagery of feet in "Harlem Shadows." Consider their structural placement throughout the poem and what this is meant to convey. Consider how these feet and footsteps are described--what feelings and associations are they meant to convey? Consider their use as synecdoches to represent the sex workers and how this transfers feelings and ideas to the sex workers, as well. Be sure to show how the symbolic imagery related to feet and footsteps supports the overall meaning of the poem, and support your assertions with both quoted and paraphrased evidence from the poem. Cite any quoted evidence in MLA format.
Essay Topic 2
Read Claude McKay's poem "America" (widely available online). Note the use of antithesis in this poem. How is it similar to the use of antithesis in "Harlem Shadows"? How is it different? Write a comparison and contrast of the use of antithesis in these two poems. Show how the technique is used in each poem and offer commentary on its purposes. 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 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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This section contains 997 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) |
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