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

Jimmy Carter

John F. Kennedy
2 How many stanzas are in the poem?
13

3

8

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

It has no rhyme scheme

AABBCC

ABABAB
4 What does the mention of "a bordered country" suggest?
Harmful immigration policies

Emotional isolation

The mystery of the past

Exciting secrecy
5 Which does NOT describe the work's tone?
Hopeful

Angry

Thoughtful

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

That history must be forgotten

That history must be bravely faced

That free speech is both dangerous and necessary
7 Who is the speaker?
A recently freed slave

A small child

The speaker is a fluid, omnipotent-seeming entity

An array of immigrants arriving to America
8 What is the poem's meter?
Free verse

Iambic pentameter

Dactylic hexameter

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

Washington, D.C.

California in the Gold Rush

New Orleans
10 Which of the following is an argument of the poem?
That colonialism is ongoing throughout America's territories abroad

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
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?
1993

2009

1964

2012
13 What is meant by the word "hastening"?
Speeding up

Storming

A type of seasoning

Awkward
14 What is meant by the word "sojourn"?
Summertime

Temporary dwelling

Folk song common in the U.S.

Presidential term
15 What is a mendicant?
A doctor

A seamstress

A beggar

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

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
17 What type of stanzas comprise this poem?
Tercets

Couplets

The poem has no single stanza type

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

A wound

A garden

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

Mastodons

Human brutality

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

Robert Frost

Amanda Gorman

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

An assembly line

Writing a poem

Giving birth
22 The line “Rock, the River, the Tree, your country," includes which of the following?
Assonant A sounds

Alliterative T sounds

Assonant OU sounds

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

Through alliteration

Through assonance

Through onomatopoeia
24 What does morning symbolize?
Hard work

A fresh start

Clarity

Solitude
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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