On the Pulse of Morning Quizzes

On the Pulse of Morning Quiz

1 For whose presidential inauguration did Angelou write this work?

Barack Obama

Bill Clinton

Jimmy Carter

John F. Kennedy
2 How many stanzas are in the poem?

21

8

3

13
3 What is the work's rhyme scheme?

ABABAB

It has no rhyme scheme

AABBCC

ABBA CDDC
4 What does the mention of "a bordered country" suggest?

Emotional isolation

Exciting secrecy

The mystery of the past

Harmful immigration policies
5 Which does NOT describe the work's tone?

Thoughtful

Hopeful

Imploring

Angry
6 Which is a central argument of this poem?

That history must be forgotten

That free speech is both dangerous and necessary

That history must be bravely faced

That democracy is a fragile institution
7 Who is the speaker?

An array of immigrants arriving to America

The speaker is a fluid, omnipotent-seeming entity

A recently freed slave

A small child
8 What is the poem's meter?

Iambic pentameter

Dactylic hexameter

Free verse

It is written in iambs, but the number of feet varies
9 Where does the poem take place?

New Orleans

America

Washington, D.C.

California in the Gold Rush
10 Which of the following is an argument of the poem?

That interpersonal and environmental destruction go hand-in-hand

That colonialism is ongoing throughout America's territories abroad

That every region of the United States is equally important in different ways

That Americans must travel their country to speak to one another
11 Which prehistoric animal is alluded to in this work?

Pterodactyl

Mastodon

Wooly mammoth

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

2009

1964

1993

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

A type of seasoning

Speeding up

Awkward

Storming
14 What is meant by the word "sojourn"?

Temporary dwelling

Summertime

Presidential term

Folk song common in the U.S.
15 What is a mendicant?

A seamstress

A doctor

A beggar

A farmer
16 How does the poem's speaker exemplify the theme of unity?

By describing how it forgives and embraces its oppressors

By offering itself up for the good of the nation

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
17 What type of stanzas comprise this poem?

Tercets

The poem has no single stanza type

Sextets

Couplets
18 Which of the following is used as a metaphor for cynicism?

A wound

A garden

A telephone

A shield
19 Which can best be described as the poem's antagonist?

Mastodons

The speaker

Human brutality

The neighbor
20 Who has NOT read a poem at a presidential inauguration?

Amanda Gorman

Elizabeth Alexander

Robert Frost

Langston Hughes
21 Which of the following is used as a metaphor for producing a dream?

Cooking a meal

Giving birth

Writing a poem

An assembly line
22 The line “Rock, the River, the Tree, your country," includes which of the following?

Assonant A sounds

Alliterative T sounds

Alliterative R sounds

Assonant OU sounds
23 How does Angelou emphasize the links between Midas, the mastodon, and the mendicant?

Through alliteration

Through onomatopoeia

Through assonance

Through rhyme
24 What does morning symbolize?

A fresh start

Solitude

Hard work

Clarity
25 What does "Midas" allude to?

An American founding father

A Native American tribe

A mythological king

An early African American poet

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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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