On the Pulse of Morning Quizzes

On the Pulse of Morning Quiz

1 For whose presidential inauguration did Angelou write this work?
John F. Kennedy

Jimmy Carter

Bill Clinton

Barack Obama
2 How many stanzas are in the poem?
13

21

8

3
3 What is the work's rhyme scheme?
It has no rhyme scheme

ABABAB

ABBA CDDC

AABBCC
4 What does the mention of "a bordered country" suggest?
Emotional isolation

Harmful immigration policies

Exciting secrecy

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

Thoughtful

Angry

Hopeful
6 Which is a central argument of this poem?
That history must be forgotten

That history must be bravely faced

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

An array of immigrants arriving to America

A small child
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?
New Orleans

America

California in the Gold Rush

Washington, D.C.
10 Which of the following is an argument of the poem?
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

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

Pterodactyl

Mastodon

Single-celled amoeba
12 In which year was this poem first performed?
1993

1964

2012

2009
13 What is meant by the word "hastening"?
Speeding up

Awkward

A type of seasoning

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 farmer

A beggar

A doctor

A seamstress
16 How does the poem's speaker exemplify the theme of unity?
By describing how it forgives and embraces its oppressors

By serving as a shared voice for a variety of different beings and entities

By offering itself up for the good of the nation

By leading call-and-response chants to bring an audience together
17 What type of stanzas comprise this poem?
The poem has no single stanza type

Couplets

Sextets

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

A garden

A wound

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

Human brutality

The speaker

Mastodons
20 Who has NOT read a poem at a presidential inauguration?
Robert Frost

Elizabeth Alexander

Langston Hughes

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

An assembly line

Cooking a meal

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

Assonant OU sounds

Assonant A sounds

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

Through rhyme

Through alliteration

Through assonance
24 What does morning symbolize?
A fresh start

Clarity

Solitude

Hard work
25 What does "Midas" allude to?
A mythological king

A Native American tribe

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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