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?
13

8

3

21
3 What is the work's rhyme scheme?
ABABAB

ABBA CDDC

It has no rhyme scheme

AABBCC
4 What does the mention of "a bordered country" suggest?
Emotional isolation

Exciting secrecy

Harmful immigration policies

The mystery of the past
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 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?
An array of immigrants arriving to America

A small child

The speaker is a fluid, omnipotent-seeming entity

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?
America

Washington, D.C.

New Orleans

California in the Gold Rush
10 Which of the following is an argument of the poem?
That Americans must travel their country to speak to one another

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
11 Which prehistoric animal is alluded to in this work?
Single-celled amoeba

Pterodactyl

Mastodon

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

1993

1964

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

Speeding up

A type of seasoning

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

Presidential term

Folk song common in the U.S.

Summertime
15 What is a mendicant?
A seamstress

A farmer

A doctor

A beggar
16 How does the poem's speaker exemplify the theme of unity?
By describing how it forgives and embraces its oppressors

By offering itself up for the good of the nation

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?
Sextets

Tercets

Couplets

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

A telephone

A shield

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

Human brutality

Mastodons

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

Robert Frost

Elizabeth Alexander

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

Writing a poem

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 R sounds

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

Through assonance

Through onomatopoeia

Through rhyme
24 What does morning symbolize?
Hard work

Clarity

A fresh start

Solitude
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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