Question

Read this excerpt from Claude McKay's "The Harlem Dancer":
The wine-flushed, bold-eyed boys, and even the girls,
Devoured her with their eager, passionate gaze;
But, looking at her falsely-smiling face
I knew her self was not in that strange place.

Which phrase best indicates that the speaker is sympathetic toward the dancer?

A.
bold-eyed boys

B.
devoured her

C.
falsely-smiling face

D.
strange place

Answer 1

which one do you think it is?

Answer 2

I'd say come up with an answer to the question yourself first.


We looking for some specific tone from the speaker to point out that they feel sympathetic for the girl.


Looking at these answer options we can cross off "A.) Bold-eyed boys" and "D.) Strange Place", you would do this due to the fact that they show no signs of having a "Sympathetic Tone".

With that being said were left with answer options "B.) Devoured her" and "C.)Falsely-smiling face".



Let's look at "B.) Devoured her".We should know right off the bat that it's figurative language and they didn't actually "Eat" the girl. But it's most likely saying that they mentally harmed her in some type of way. And this indicates no type of tone whatsoever, just sounds like the author is stating something.




I'm thinking the answer would most likely be "C.) Falsely smiling face",I say this bc a "falsely smiling face" is like a cover-up to hide your true emotions in this case the girl is doing. And by using "Context Clues" from the passage it even says "her falsely-smiling face
I knew her self was not in that strange place.".He or She is basically saying she had a false smile most of the time, he or she saw past the mask and kinda feels sorry for her.



(Honestly, I may be wrong but I'm feeling 90% sure this is the answer)