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?
3

13

21

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

It has no rhyme scheme

ABABAB

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?
Imploring

Angry

Hopeful

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

That free speech is both dangerous and necessary

That history must be bravely faced

That history must be forgotten
7 Who is the speaker?
The speaker is a fluid, omnipotent-seeming entity

A small child

An array of immigrants arriving to America

A recently freed slave
8 What is the poem's meter?
It is written in iambs, but the number of feet varies

Free verse

Iambic pentameter

Dactylic hexameter
9 Where does the poem take place?
Washington, D.C.

California in the Gold Rush

America

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 interpersonal and environmental destruction go hand-in-hand

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

That colonialism is ongoing throughout America's territories abroad
11 Which prehistoric animal is alluded to in this work?
Wooly mammoth

Pterodactyl

Single-celled amoeba

Mastodon
12 In which year was this poem first performed?
1993

2012

1964

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

Speeding up

Storming

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

Temporary dwelling

Folk song common in the U.S.

Presidential term
15 What is a mendicant?
A doctor

A beggar

A farmer

A seamstress
16 How does the poem's speaker exemplify the theme of unity?
By leading call-and-response chants to bring an audience together

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 describing how it forgives and embraces its oppressors
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?
Human brutality

The speaker

Mastodons

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

Robert Frost

Amanda Gorman

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

An assembly line

Writing a poem

Cooking a meal
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 rhyme

Through onomatopoeia

Through alliteration

Through assonance
24 What does morning symbolize?
Hard work

Clarity

Solitude

A fresh start
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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