On the Pulse of Morning Quizzes

On the Pulse of Morning Quiz

1 For whose presidential inauguration did Angelou write this work?
Barack Obama

John F. Kennedy

Jimmy Carter

Bill Clinton
2 How many stanzas are in the poem?
13

21

3

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

It has no rhyme scheme

ABBA CDDC

ABABAB
4 What does the mention of "a bordered country" suggest?
The mystery of the past

Emotional isolation

Harmful immigration policies

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

Thoughtful

Hopeful

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

That history must be forgotten

That democracy is a fragile institution

That history must be bravely faced
7 Who is the speaker?
A recently freed slave

A small child

An array of immigrants arriving to America

The speaker is a fluid, omnipotent-seeming entity
8 What is the poem's meter?
Iambic pentameter

Free verse

Dactylic hexameter

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

California in the Gold Rush

New Orleans

America
10 Which of the following is an argument of the poem?
That interpersonal and environmental destruction go hand-in-hand

That Americans must travel their country to speak to one another

That colonialism is ongoing throughout America's territories abroad

That every region of the United States is equally important in different ways
11 Which prehistoric animal is alluded to in this work?
Single-celled amoeba

Mastodon

Pterodactyl

Wooly mammoth
12 In which year was this poem first performed?
2009

1964

2012

1993
13 What is meant by the word "hastening"?
Storming

Speeding up

Awkward

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

Temporary dwelling

Summertime

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

A seamstress

A farmer

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

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

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

By offering itself up for the good of the nation
17 What type of stanzas comprise this poem?
Tercets

Couplets

Sextets

The poem has no single stanza type
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?
Human brutality

The speaker

Mastodons

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

Robert Frost

Langston Hughes

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

Writing a poem

Cooking a meal

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

Alliterative R sounds

Assonant OU sounds

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

Through alliteration

Through onomatopoeia

Through assonance
24 What does morning symbolize?
Clarity

Hard work

Solitude

A fresh start
25 What does "Midas" allude to?
A mythological king

An early African American poet

A Native American tribe

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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