On the Pulse of Morning Quizzes

On the Pulse of Morning Quiz

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

John F. Kennedy

Jimmy Carter

Bill Clinton
2 How many stanzas are in the poem?
13

8

3

21
3 What is the work's rhyme scheme?
AABBCC

ABBA CDDC

It has no rhyme scheme

ABABAB
4 What does the mention of "a bordered country" suggest?
The mystery of the past

Emotional isolation

Exciting secrecy

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

Imploring

Thoughtful

Hopeful
6 Which is a central argument of this poem?
That democracy is a fragile institution

That free speech is both dangerous and necessary

That history must be bravely faced

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

Free verse

Iambic pentameter

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 interpersonal and environmental destruction go hand-in-hand

That colonialism is ongoing throughout America's territories abroad

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

Single-celled amoeba

Mastodon

Wooly mammoth
12 In which year was this poem first performed?
2009

1993

1964

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

Storming

Speeding up

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 seamstress

A doctor

A farmer

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 describing how it forgives and embraces its oppressors

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

The poem has no single stanza type

Sextets

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

A telephone

A wound

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

The neighbor

The speaker

Mastodons
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?
An assembly line

Giving birth

Cooking a meal

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

Assonant OU sounds

Alliterative T sounds

Assonant A 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?
Clarity

A fresh start

Solitude

Hard work
25 What does "Midas" allude to?
A mythological king

A Native American tribe

An early African American poet

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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