On the Pulse of Morning Quizzes

On the Pulse of Morning Quiz

1 For whose presidential inauguration did Angelou write this work?
Jimmy Carter

John F. Kennedy

Bill Clinton

Barack Obama
2 How many stanzas are in the poem?
21

8

3

13
3 What is the work's rhyme scheme?
AABBCC

It has no rhyme scheme

ABBA CDDC

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

Exciting secrecy

Harmful immigration policies

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

Thoughtful

Imploring

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?
A small child

A recently freed slave

The speaker is a fluid, omnipotent-seeming entity

An array of immigrants arriving to America
8 What is the poem's meter?
It is written in iambs, but the number of feet varies

Dactylic hexameter

Iambic pentameter

Free verse
9 Where does the poem take place?
California in the Gold Rush

Washington, D.C.

New Orleans

America
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?
Mastodon

Wooly mammoth

Single-celled amoeba

Pterodactyl
12 In which year was this poem first performed?
2012

1964

2009

1993
13 What is meant by the word "hastening"?
A type of seasoning

Storming

Speeding up

Awkward
14 What is meant by the word "sojourn"?
Folk song common in the U.S.

Presidential term

Temporary dwelling

Summertime
15 What is a mendicant?
A seamstress

A doctor

A beggar

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

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

Tercets

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?
The neighbor

Mastodons

The speaker

Human brutality
20 Who has NOT read a poem at a presidential inauguration?
Robert Frost

Amanda Gorman

Langston Hughes

Elizabeth Alexander
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 T sounds

Assonant A sounds

Assonant OU sounds

Alliterative R sounds
23 How does Angelou emphasize the links between Midas, the mastodon, and the mendicant?
Through assonance

Through onomatopoeia

Through alliteration

Through rhyme
24 What does morning symbolize?
Solitude

A fresh start

Clarity

Hard work
25 What does "Midas" allude to?
An American founding father

A Native American tribe

A mythological king

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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