On the Pulse of Morning Quizzes

On the Pulse of Morning Quiz

1 For whose presidential inauguration did Angelou write this work?
Bill Clinton

Barack Obama

John F. Kennedy

Jimmy Carter
2 How many stanzas are in the poem?
3

8

21

13
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?
The mystery of the past

Harmful immigration policies

Exciting secrecy

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

Thoughtful

Hopeful

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

That history must be bravely faced

That democracy is a fragile institution

That history must be forgotten
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?
Iambic pentameter

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

Free verse

Dactylic hexameter
9 Where does the poem take place?
America

California in the Gold Rush

New Orleans

Washington, D.C.
10 Which of the following is an argument of the poem?
That interpersonal and environmental destruction go hand-in-hand

That colonialism is ongoing throughout America's territories abroad

That Americans must travel their country to speak to one another

That every region of the United States is equally important in different ways
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?
2012

1964

1993

2009
13 What is meant by the word "hastening"?
Speeding up

Awkward

Storming

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

Folk song common in the U.S.

Temporary dwelling

Presidential term
15 What is a mendicant?
A beggar

A farmer

A doctor

A seamstress
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 describing how it forgives and embraces its oppressors

By offering itself up for the good of the nation

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

Tercets

The poem has no single stanza type

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

A telephone

A garden

A shield
19 Which can best be described as the poem's antagonist?
The neighbor

Human brutality

The speaker

Mastodons
20 Who has NOT read a poem at a presidential inauguration?
Elizabeth Alexander

Amanda Gorman

Robert Frost

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

Writing a poem

Giving birth

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

Alliterative R sounds

Assonant A sounds

Alliterative T 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

A fresh start

Clarity

Hard work
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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