On the Pulse of Morning Quizzes

On the Pulse of Morning Quiz

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

Jimmy Carter

John F. Kennedy

Bill Clinton
2 How many stanzas are in the poem?
3

8

13

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

ABABAB

It has no rhyme scheme

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

Exciting secrecy

The mystery of the past

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

Imploring

Hopeful

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

That free speech is both dangerous and necessary

That democracy is a fragile institution

That history must be forgotten
7 Who is the speaker?
The speaker is a fluid, omnipotent-seeming entity

A small child

An array of immigrants arriving to America

A recently freed slave
8 What is the poem's meter?
Dactylic hexameter

Free verse

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

Iambic pentameter
9 Where does the poem take place?
Washington, D.C.

California in the Gold Rush

New Orleans

America
10 Which of the following is an argument of the poem?
That interpersonal and environmental destruction go hand-in-hand

That Americans must travel their country to speak to one another

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

That colonialism is ongoing throughout America's territories abroad
11 Which prehistoric animal is alluded to in this work?
Pterodactyl

Mastodon

Single-celled amoeba

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

2012

1964

1993
13 What is meant by the word "hastening"?
Awkward

Speeding up

Storming

A type of seasoning
14 What is meant by the word "sojourn"?
Summertime

Temporary dwelling

Presidential term

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

A beggar

A doctor

A farmer
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 serving as a shared voice for a variety of different beings and entities

By offering itself up for the good of the nation
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 shield

A garden

A wound

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

The neighbor

Human brutality

The speaker
20 Who has NOT read a poem at a presidential inauguration?
Amanda Gorman

Langston Hughes

Robert Frost

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

An assembly line

Giving birth

Cooking a meal
22 The line “Rock, the River, the Tree, your country," includes which of the following?
Assonant OU sounds

Assonant A sounds

Alliterative T 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

Clarity

Solitude

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

An American founding father

An early African American poet

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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