On the Pulse of Morning Quizzes

On the Pulse of Morning Quiz

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

John F. Kennedy

Barack Obama

Jimmy Carter
2 How many stanzas are in the poem?
21

13

3

8
3 What is the work's rhyme scheme?
AABBCC

ABBA CDDC

ABABAB

It has no rhyme scheme
4 What does the mention of "a bordered country" suggest?
The mystery of the past

Emotional isolation

Exciting secrecy

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

Hopeful

Thoughtful

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

That history must be forgotten

That history must be bravely faced

That free speech is both dangerous and necessary
7 Who is the speaker?
A small child

An array of immigrants arriving to America

The speaker is a fluid, omnipotent-seeming entity

A recently freed slave
8 What is the poem's meter?
Free verse

Dactylic hexameter

Iambic pentameter

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

New Orleans

America

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 interpersonal and environmental destruction go hand-in-hand

That colonialism is ongoing throughout America's territories abroad

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

Wooly mammoth

Mastodon

Pterodactyl
12 In which year was this poem first performed?
1964

2012

1993

2009
13 What is meant by the word "hastening"?
Awkward

A type of seasoning

Speeding up

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

Summertime

Temporary dwelling

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

A farmer

A beggar

A seamstress
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 describing how it forgives and embraces its oppressors

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

By offering itself up for the good of the nation
17 What type of stanzas comprise this poem?
The poem has no single stanza type

Sextets

Couplets

Tercets
18 Which of the following is used as a metaphor for cynicism?
A shield

A wound

A telephone

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

Mastodons

The neighbor

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

Robert Frost

Amanda Gorman

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

An assembly line

Writing a poem

Giving birth
22 The line “Rock, the River, the Tree, your country," includes which of the following?
Alliterative R sounds

Assonant OU sounds

Alliterative T sounds

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

Through onomatopoeia

Through alliteration

Through rhyme
24 What does morning symbolize?
Hard work

Solitude

A fresh start

Clarity
25 What does "Midas" allude to?
A Native American tribe

A mythological king

An early African American poet

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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