On the Pulse of Morning Quizzes

On the Pulse of Morning Quiz

1 For whose presidential inauguration did Angelou write this work?
Bill Clinton

Barack Obama

John F. Kennedy

Jimmy Carter
2 How many stanzas are in the poem?
3

21

8

13
3 What is the work's rhyme scheme?
ABABAB

It has no rhyme scheme

ABBA CDDC

AABBCC
4 What does the mention of "a bordered country" suggest?
Exciting secrecy

Harmful immigration policies

Emotional isolation

The mystery of the past
5 Which does NOT describe the work's tone?
Angry

Imploring

Hopeful

Thoughtful
6 Which is a central argument of this poem?
That democracy is a fragile institution

That history must be bravely faced

That history must be forgotten

That free speech is both dangerous and necessary
7 Who is the speaker?
A recently freed slave

The speaker is a fluid, omnipotent-seeming entity

A small child

An array of immigrants arriving to America
8 What is the poem's meter?
It is written in iambs, but the number of feet varies

Free verse

Dactylic hexameter

Iambic pentameter
9 Where does the poem take place?
Washington, D.C.

America

New Orleans

California in the Gold Rush
10 Which of the following is an argument of the poem?
That every region of the United States is equally important in different ways

That colonialism is ongoing throughout America's territories abroad

That Americans must travel their country to speak to one another

That interpersonal and environmental destruction go hand-in-hand
11 Which prehistoric animal is alluded to in this work?
Mastodon

Wooly mammoth

Pterodactyl

Single-celled amoeba
12 In which year was this poem first performed?
1964

2009

1993

2012
13 What is meant by the word "hastening"?
Storming

Speeding up

Awkward

A type of seasoning
14 What is meant by the word "sojourn"?
Folk song common in the U.S.

Presidential term

Temporary dwelling

Summertime
15 What is a mendicant?
A farmer

A beggar

A seamstress

A doctor
16 How does the poem's speaker exemplify the theme of unity?
By serving as a shared voice for a variety of different beings and entities

By leading call-and-response chants to bring an audience together

By describing how it forgives and embraces its oppressors

By offering itself up for the good of the nation
17 What type of stanzas comprise this poem?
Tercets

Sextets

Couplets

The poem has no single stanza type
18 Which of the following is used as a metaphor for cynicism?
A wound

A garden

A shield

A telephone
19 Which can best be described as the poem's antagonist?
Human brutality

The neighbor

The speaker

Mastodons
20 Who has NOT read a poem at a presidential inauguration?
Elizabeth Alexander

Robert Frost

Langston Hughes

Amanda Gorman
21 Which of the following is used as a metaphor for producing a dream?
Giving birth

Cooking a meal

An assembly line

Writing a poem
22 The line “Rock, the River, the Tree, your country," includes which of the following?
Assonant OU sounds

Alliterative R sounds

Assonant A sounds

Alliterative T sounds
23 How does Angelou emphasize the links between Midas, the mastodon, and the mendicant?
Through onomatopoeia

Through alliteration

Through rhyme

Through assonance
24 What does morning symbolize?
Hard work

Solitude

A fresh start

Clarity
25 What does "Midas" allude to?
A mythological king

An early African American poet

A Native American tribe

An American founding father

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Study Guide for On the Pulse of Morning

On the Pulse of Morning study guide contains a biography of Maya Angelou, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis.

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