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?

21

13

3

8
3 What is the work's rhyme scheme?

ABBA CDDC

ABABAB

AABBCC

It has no rhyme scheme
4 What does the mention of "a bordered country" suggest?

Harmful immigration policies

Exciting secrecy

Emotional isolation

The mystery of the past
5 Which does NOT describe the work's tone?

Thoughtful

Hopeful

Angry

Imploring
6 Which is a central argument of this poem?

That history must be bravely faced

That free speech is both dangerous and necessary

That history must be forgotten

That democracy is a fragile institution
7 Who is the speaker?

An array of immigrants arriving to America

The speaker is a fluid, omnipotent-seeming entity

A small child

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

Iambic pentameter

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

Dactylic hexameter

Free verse
9 Where does the poem take place?

California in the Gold Rush

Washington, D.C.

America

New Orleans
10 Which of the following is an argument of the poem?

That colonialism is ongoing throughout America's territories abroad

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 interpersonal and environmental destruction go hand-in-hand
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?

1993

2009

2012

1964
13 What is meant by the word "hastening"?

Storming

A type of seasoning

Speeding up

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

Temporary dwelling

Presidential term

Summertime

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

A beggar

A doctor

A farmer

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

By describing how it forgives and embraces its oppressors

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

The poem has no single stanza type

Sextets

Couplets

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 speaker

The neighbor

Mastodons
20 Who has NOT read a poem at a presidential inauguration?

Elizabeth Alexander

Langston Hughes

Robert Frost

Amanda Gorman
21 Which of the following is used as a metaphor for producing a dream?

Writing a poem

An assembly line

Cooking a meal

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 rhyme

Through assonance

Through alliteration

Through onomatopoeia
24 What does morning symbolize?

Clarity

Hard work

Solitude

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

A Native American tribe

A mythological king

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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