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

Bill Clinton

Jimmy Carter
2 How many stanzas are in the poem?
13

8

3

21
3 What is the work's rhyme scheme?
It has no rhyme scheme

AABBCC

ABBA CDDC

ABABAB
4 What does the mention of "a bordered country" suggest?
Harmful immigration policies

Exciting secrecy

Emotional isolation

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

Angry

Hopeful

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

That history must be forgotten

That history must be bravely faced

That democracy is a fragile institution
7 Who is the speaker?
A recently freed slave

An array of immigrants arriving to America

A small child

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

Dactylic hexameter

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

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 interpersonal and environmental destruction go hand-in-hand

That Americans must travel their country to speak to one another

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?
Mastodon

Wooly mammoth

Pterodactyl

Single-celled amoeba
12 In which year was this poem first performed?
2009

1964

1993

2012
13 What is meant by the word "hastening"?
Storming

A type of seasoning

Speeding up

Awkward
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 farmer

A doctor

A seamstress

A beggar
16 How does the poem's speaker exemplify the theme of unity?
By offering itself up for the good of the nation

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 describing how it forgives and embraces its oppressors
17 What type of stanzas comprise this poem?
Couplets

Tercets

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 shield

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

Human brutality

The speaker

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

Amanda Gorman

Elizabeth Alexander

Robert Frost
21 Which of the following is used as a metaphor for producing a dream?
Cooking a meal

Giving birth

Writing a poem

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

Alliterative T sounds

Alliterative R sounds

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

Through alliteration

Through assonance

Through rhyme
24 What does morning symbolize?
A fresh start

Clarity

Hard work

Solitude
25 What does "Midas" allude to?
An early African American poet

A Native American tribe

An American founding father

A mythological king

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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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