On the Pulse of Morning Quizzes

On the Pulse of Morning Quiz

1 For whose presidential inauguration did Angelou write this work?

John F. Kennedy

Jimmy Carter

Barack Obama

Bill Clinton
2 How many stanzas are in the poem?

21

13

8

3
3 What is the work's rhyme scheme?

ABBA CDDC

AABBCC

ABABAB

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

Harmful immigration policies

Emotional isolation

Exciting secrecy

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

Angry

Imploring

Thoughtful

Hopeful
6 Which is a central argument of this poem?

That history must be forgotten

That democracy is a fragile institution

That free speech is both dangerous and necessary

That history must be bravely faced
7 Who is the speaker?

The speaker is a fluid, omnipotent-seeming entity

An array of immigrants arriving to America

A recently freed slave

A small child
8 What is the poem's meter?

Free verse

Iambic pentameter

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

Dactylic hexameter
9 Where does the poem take place?

America

Washington, D.C.

New Orleans

California in the Gold Rush
10 Which of the following is an argument of the poem?

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

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

Wooly mammoth

Single-celled amoeba

Mastodon

Pterodactyl
12 In which year was this poem first performed?

2009

2012

1964

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

Awkward

Storming

A type of seasoning

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

Summertime

Folk song common in the U.S.

Presidential term

Temporary dwelling
15 What is a mendicant?

A seamstress

A farmer

A doctor

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

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

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
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 telephone

A wound

A shield

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

Human brutality

Mastodons

The neighbor

The speaker
20 Who has NOT read a poem at a presidential inauguration?

Amanda Gorman

Elizabeth Alexander

Robert Frost

Langston Hughes
21 Which of the following is used as a metaphor for producing a dream?

Giving birth

Writing a poem

An assembly line

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

Assonant A sounds

Alliterative T sounds

Alliterative R sounds

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

Through rhyme

Through onomatopoeia

Through assonance

Through alliteration
24 What does morning symbolize?

Solitude

Hard work

A fresh start

Clarity
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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