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?

3

8

21

13
3 What is the work's rhyme scheme?

ABABAB

ABBA CDDC

It has no rhyme scheme

AABBCC
4 What does the mention of "a bordered country" suggest?

Exciting secrecy

Harmful immigration policies

The mystery of the past

Emotional isolation
5 Which does NOT describe the work's tone?

Thoughtful

Hopeful

Angry

Imploring
6 Which is a central argument of this poem?

That history must be bravely faced

That history must be forgotten

That democracy is a fragile institution

That free speech is both dangerous and necessary
7 Who is the speaker?

An array of immigrants arriving to America

A small child

A recently freed slave

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

Dactylic hexameter

Free verse

Iambic pentameter

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

America

California in the Gold Rush

Washington, D.C.

New Orleans
10 Which of the following is an argument of the poem?

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 colonialism is ongoing throughout America's territories abroad

That interpersonal and environmental destruction go hand-in-hand
11 Which prehistoric animal is alluded to in this work?

Mastodon

Single-celled amoeba

Wooly mammoth

Pterodactyl
12 In which year was this poem first performed?

1964

2009

2012

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

Storming

Speeding up

A type of seasoning

Awkward
14 What is meant by the word "sojourn"?

Summertime

Presidential term

Temporary dwelling

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

A doctor

A beggar

A seamstress

A farmer
16 How does the poem's speaker exemplify the theme of unity?

By describing how it forgives and embraces its oppressors

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 leading call-and-response chants to bring an audience together
17 What type of stanzas comprise this poem?

Couplets

Sextets

Tercets

The poem has no single stanza type
18 Which of the following is used as a metaphor for cynicism?

A shield

A telephone

A garden

A wound
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?

Writing a poem

An assembly line

Cooking a meal

Giving birth
22 The line “Rock, the River, the Tree, your country," includes which of the following?

Assonant A sounds

Alliterative R sounds

Alliterative T sounds

Assonant OU 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?

Clarity

A fresh start

Hard work

Solitude
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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