On the Pulse of Morning Quizzes

On the Pulse of Morning Quiz

1 For whose presidential inauguration did Angelou write this work?
John F. Kennedy

Barack Obama

Jimmy Carter

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

8

3

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

AABBCC

It has no rhyme scheme

ABABAB
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?
Angry

Hopeful

Thoughtful

Imploring
6 Which is a central argument of this poem?
That history must be bravely faced

That democracy is a fragile institution

That history must be forgotten

That free speech is both dangerous and necessary
7 Who is the speaker?
An array of immigrants arriving to America

A recently freed slave

The speaker is a fluid, omnipotent-seeming entity

A small child
8 What is the poem's meter?
Iambic pentameter

Free verse

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

Dactylic hexameter
9 Where does the poem take place?
New Orleans

Washington, D.C.

America

California in the Gold Rush
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 Americans must travel their country to speak to one another

That interpersonal and environmental destruction go hand-in-hand
11 Which prehistoric animal is alluded to in this work?
Single-celled amoeba

Mastodon

Wooly mammoth

Pterodactyl
12 In which year was this poem first performed?
1993

1964

2009

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

Awkward

A type of seasoning

Speeding up
14 What is meant by the word "sojourn"?
Summertime

Presidential term

Temporary dwelling

Folk song common in the U.S.
15 What is a mendicant?
A doctor

A beggar

A seamstress

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 describing how it forgives and embraces its oppressors

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
17 What type of stanzas comprise this poem?
Couplets

Tercets

Sextets

The poem has no single stanza type
18 Which of the following is used as a metaphor for cynicism?
A garden

A wound

A telephone

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

The speaker

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?
Writing a poem

Cooking a meal

An assembly line

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

Assonant A sounds

Assonant OU sounds

Alliterative T 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

Clarity

A fresh start

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

An early African American poet

A mythological king

A Native American tribe

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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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