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

Jimmy Carter

Barack Obama
2 How many stanzas are in the poem?
21

3

8

13
3 What is the work's rhyme scheme?
ABABAB

AABBCC

It has no rhyme scheme

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

The mystery of the past

Harmful immigration policies

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

Hopeful

Thoughtful

Angry
6 Which is a central argument of this poem?
That free speech is both dangerous and necessary

That democracy is a fragile institution

That history must be forgotten

That history must be bravely faced
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?
Dactylic hexameter

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

Free verse

Iambic pentameter
9 Where does the poem take place?
New Orleans

California in the Gold Rush

Washington, D.C.

America
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?
Mastodon

Pterodactyl

Single-celled amoeba

Wooly mammoth
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"?
Folk song common in the U.S.

Temporary dwelling

Presidential term

Summertime
15 What is a mendicant?
A doctor

A seamstress

A beggar

A farmer
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 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
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 wound

A shield

A garden

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

The neighbor

The speaker

Human brutality
20 Who has NOT read a poem at a presidential inauguration?
Langston Hughes

Amanda Gorman

Robert Frost

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

An assembly line

Cooking a meal

Writing a poem
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 rhyme

Through alliteration

Through assonance

Through onomatopoeia
24 What does morning symbolize?
Solitude

A fresh start

Hard work

Clarity
25 What does "Midas" allude to?
A mythological king

A Native American tribe

An American founding father

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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