On the Pulse of Morning Quizzes

On the Pulse of Morning Quiz

By Eleanor Stern · Edited by James Cooper · Last reviewed June 10, 2022

1 For whose presidential inauguration did Angelou write this work?

Jimmy Carter

Bill Clinton

John F. Kennedy

Barack Obama
2 How many stanzas are in the poem?

21

3

8

13
3 What is the work's rhyme scheme?

It has no rhyme scheme

ABABAB

AABBCC

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

Exciting secrecy

Emotional isolation

Harmful immigration policies

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

Angry

Hopeful

Thoughtful

Imploring
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?

A recently freed slave

A small child

An array of immigrants arriving to America

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

Iambic pentameter

Dactylic hexameter

Free verse

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

California in the Gold Rush

America

Washington, D.C.

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

That colonialism is ongoing throughout America's territories abroad

That interpersonal and environmental destruction go hand-in-hand

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

That Americans must travel their country to speak to one another
11 Which prehistoric animal is alluded to in this work?

Pterodactyl

Mastodon

Wooly mammoth

Single-celled amoeba
12 In which year was this poem first performed?

2009

1993

2012

1964
13 What is meant by the word "hastening"?

A type of seasoning

Awkward

Speeding up

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

Summertime

Presidential term

Folk song common in the U.S.

Temporary dwelling
15 What is a mendicant?

A seamstress

A doctor

A farmer

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

By describing how it forgives and embraces its oppressors

By leading call-and-response chants to bring an audience together

By offering itself up for the good of the nation

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

The poem has no single stanza type

Sextets

Couplets

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

A garden

A wound

A shield

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?

Elizabeth Alexander

Amanda Gorman

Langston Hughes

Robert Frost
21 Which of the following is used as a metaphor for producing a dream?

Cooking a meal

Giving birth

An assembly line

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

Alliterative R sounds

Alliterative T sounds

Assonant A sounds

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

Through rhyme

Through onomatopoeia

Through alliteration

Through assonance
24 What does morning symbolize?

Hard work

Solitude

Clarity

A fresh start
25 What does "Midas" allude to?

An early African American poet

An American founding father

A Native American tribe

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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