On the Pulse of Morning Quizzes

On the Pulse of Morning Quiz

1 For whose presidential inauguration did Angelou write this work?

Jimmy Carter

Barack Obama

Bill Clinton

John F. Kennedy
2 How many stanzas are in the poem?

13

21

3

8
3 What is the work's rhyme scheme?

AABBCC

ABABAB

ABBA CDDC

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

The mystery of the past

Harmful immigration policies

Emotional isolation

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

Hopeful

Imploring

Angry

Thoughtful
6 Which is a central argument of this poem?

That history must be bravely faced

That democracy is a fragile institution

That free speech is both dangerous and necessary

That history must be forgotten
7 Who is the speaker?

A recently freed slave

The speaker is a fluid, omnipotent-seeming entity

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

Dactylic hexameter

Free verse

Iambic pentameter
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 Americans must travel their country to speak to one another

That colonialism is ongoing throughout America's territories abroad

That interpersonal and environmental destruction go hand-in-hand

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

Wooly mammoth

Mastodon

Single-celled amoeba

Pterodactyl
12 In which year was this poem first performed?

2009

1993

2012

1964
13 What is meant by the word "hastening"?

A type of seasoning

Speeding up

Storming

Awkward
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 doctor

A seamstress

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

Sextets

The poem has no single stanza type

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

A shield

A wound

A telephone

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

Human brutality

The neighbor

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?

An assembly line

Writing a poem

Giving birth

Cooking a meal
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 alliteration

Through assonance

Through onomatopoeia

Through rhyme
24 What does morning symbolize?

Solitude

A fresh start

Hard work

Clarity
25 What does "Midas" allude to?

An early African American poet

A mythological king

An American founding father

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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