On the Pulse of Morning Quizzes

On the Pulse of Morning Quiz

1 For whose presidential inauguration did Angelou write this work?

Bill Clinton

Jimmy Carter

Barack Obama

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

13

3

8

21
3 What is the work's rhyme scheme?

AABBCC

ABABAB

It has no rhyme scheme

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

Harmful immigration policies

Emotional isolation

The mystery of the past

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

Imploring

Thoughtful

Angry

Hopeful
6 Which is a central argument of this poem?

That history must be forgotten

That history must be bravely faced

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

The speaker is a fluid, omnipotent-seeming entity

A small child

A recently freed slave
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?

New Orleans

California in the Gold Rush

Washington, D.C.

America
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 interpersonal and environmental destruction go hand-in-hand

That colonialism is ongoing throughout America's territories abroad
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?

1964

2012

2009

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

Awkward

A type of seasoning

Storming

Speeding up
14 What is meant by the word "sojourn"?

Presidential term

Summertime

Folk song common in the U.S.

Temporary dwelling
15 What is a mendicant?

A doctor

A farmer

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 describing how it forgives and embraces its oppressors

By serving as a shared voice for a variety of different beings and entities
17 What type of stanzas comprise this poem?

Tercets

The poem has no single stanza type

Sextets

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

A wound

A telephone

A shield

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

The neighbor

Mastodons

The speaker

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

Langston Hughes

Elizabeth Alexander

Robert Frost

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

Giving birth

An assembly line

Writing a poem

Cooking a meal
22 The line “Rock, the River, the Tree, your country," includes which of the following?

Alliterative R sounds

Assonant A 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 assonance

Through onomatopoeia
24 What does morning symbolize?

A fresh start

Clarity

Solitude

Hard work
25 What does "Midas" allude to?

A Native American tribe

An American founding father

An early African American poet

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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