On the Pulse of Morning Quizzes

On the Pulse of Morning Quiz

1 For whose presidential inauguration did Angelou write this work?
Barack Obama

Bill Clinton

John F. Kennedy

Jimmy Carter
2 How many stanzas are in the poem?
8

3

13

21
3 What is the work's rhyme scheme?
ABBA CDDC

ABABAB

AABBCC

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

Exciting secrecy

Emotional isolation

Harmful immigration policies
5 Which does NOT describe the work's tone?
Hopeful

Thoughtful

Angry

Imploring
6 Which is a central argument of this poem?
That history must be forgotten

That democracy is a fragile institution

That history must be bravely faced

That free speech is both dangerous and necessary
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?
Iambic pentameter

Free verse

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

Dactylic hexameter
9 Where does the poem take place?
America

New Orleans

California in the Gold Rush

Washington, D.C.
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 interpersonal and environmental destruction go hand-in-hand

That Americans must travel their country to speak to one another

That colonialism is ongoing throughout America's territories abroad
11 Which prehistoric animal is alluded to in this work?
Wooly mammoth

Pterodactyl

Single-celled amoeba

Mastodon
12 In which year was this poem first performed?
2009

1993

1964

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

Speeding up

Awkward

A type of seasoning
14 What is meant by the word "sojourn"?
Presidential term

Summertime

Temporary dwelling

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

A seamstress

A beggar

A doctor
16 How does the poem's speaker exemplify the theme of unity?
By leading call-and-response chants to bring an audience together

By offering itself up for the good of the nation

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?
Couplets

Sextets

Tercets

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

A shield

A garden

A telephone
19 Which can best be described as the poem's antagonist?
The speaker

The neighbor

Human brutality

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

Robert Frost

Elizabeth Alexander

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

Giving birth

Cooking a meal

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?
Solitude

A fresh start

Hard work

Clarity
25 What does "Midas" allude to?
A mythological king

An American founding father

A Native American tribe

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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