On the Pulse of Morning Quizzes

On the Pulse of Morning Quiz

1 For whose presidential inauguration did Angelou write this work?
Jimmy Carter

John F. Kennedy

Bill Clinton

Barack Obama
2 How many stanzas are in the poem?
8

21

3

13
3 What is the work's rhyme scheme?
ABBA CDDC

ABABAB

AABBCC

It has no rhyme scheme
4 What does the mention of "a bordered country" suggest?
Emotional isolation

Harmful immigration policies

The mystery of the past

Exciting secrecy
5 Which does NOT describe the work's tone?
Hopeful

Imploring

Thoughtful

Angry
6 Which is a central argument of this poem?
That history must be bravely faced

That history must be forgotten

That democracy is a fragile institution

That free speech is both dangerous and necessary
7 Who is the speaker?
The speaker is a fluid, omnipotent-seeming entity

A recently freed slave

A small child

An array of immigrants arriving to America
8 What is the poem's meter?
Free verse

It is written in iambs, but the number of feet varies

Iambic pentameter

Dactylic hexameter
9 Where does the poem take place?
California in the Gold Rush

America

Washington, D.C.

New Orleans
10 Which of the following is an argument of the poem?
That Americans must travel their country to speak to one another

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

That colonialism is ongoing throughout America's territories abroad

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

Wooly mammoth

Single-celled amoeba

Pterodactyl
12 In which year was this poem first performed?
2009

1993

1964

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

Storming

Awkward

A type of seasoning
14 What is meant by the word "sojourn"?
Temporary dwelling

Presidential term

Summertime

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 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

By serving as a shared voice for a variety of different beings and entities
17 What type of stanzas comprise this poem?
Sextets

Tercets

The poem has no single stanza type

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

A telephone

A shield

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?
Amanda Gorman

Langston Hughes

Elizabeth Alexander

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

Writing a poem

Giving birth

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

Assonant A sounds

Alliterative T sounds

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

Through rhyme

Through alliteration

Through onomatopoeia
24 What does morning symbolize?
Hard work

Clarity

Solitude

A fresh start
25 What does "Midas" allude to?
An early African American poet

An American founding father

A mythological king

A Native American tribe

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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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