What does this mean "machine guns looked like praying mantises to me"?

The harlem renaissance dawned in an era of pervasive racism and segregation. although legally "free," many african americans were still bound by ideas that had their roots in the slavery of earlier centuries. identity and freedom are important ideas presented in many of the poems from the harlem renaissance. furthermore, the values of identity and freedom are not unique to particular times and places. as hughes expresses in "dream variations," all humans want to be able to develop their identities in freedom. what role does freedom play in the poems you read in this unit? what is required of a society to enable each individual to be true to his or her identity and be free to live by that identity? write about at least three of the poems, describing how the poet uses imagery to depict freedom and identity, the lack of it, or the desire for it.

In at least 150 words, explain the symbolism of the quilt in “everyday use.”

1. find at least 9 adjectives from this opening passage used to describe the setting of the story- "to build a fire" setting: day had broken cold and gray, exceedingly cold and gray, when the man turned aside from the main yukon trail and climbed the high earth-bank, where a dim and little-travelled trail led eastward through the fat spruce timberland. it was a steep bank, and he paused for breath at the top, excusing the act to himself by looking at his watch. it was nine o'clock. there was no sun nor hint of sun, through there was not a cloud in the sky. it was a clear day, and yet there seemed an intangible pall over the face of things, subtle gloom that made the day dark, and that was due to the absence of sun. this fact did not worry the man. he was used to the lack of sun. it had been days since he had seen the sun, and he knew that a few more days must pass before that cheerful orb, due south, would just peep above the sky-line and dip immediately from view.