On the Pulse of Morning Quizzes

On the Pulse of Morning Quiz

1 For whose presidential inauguration did Angelou write this work?
Jimmy Carter

John F. Kennedy

Bill Clinton

Barack Obama
2 How many stanzas are in the poem?
13

21

8

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

ABBA CDDC

AABBCC

It has no rhyme scheme
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?
Imploring

Thoughtful

Angry

Hopeful
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?
A small child

An array of immigrants arriving to America

A recently freed slave

The speaker is a fluid, omnipotent-seeming entity
8 What is the poem's meter?
Free verse

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

Iambic pentameter

Dactylic hexameter
9 Where does the poem take place?
America

California in the Gold Rush

New Orleans

Washington, D.C.
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

Wooly mammoth

Mastodon

Single-celled amoeba
12 In which year was this poem first performed?
2012

2009

1993

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

Awkward

A type of seasoning

Storming
14 What is meant by the word "sojourn"?
Presidential term

Temporary dwelling

Folk song common in the U.S.

Summertime
15 What is a mendicant?
A farmer

A doctor

A beggar

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

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

Sextets

Couplets

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

A shield

A wound

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

Human brutality

The speaker

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

Robert Frost

Langston Hughes

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

Writing a poem

Giving birth

An assembly line
22 The line “Rock, the River, the Tree, your country," includes which of the following?
Alliterative T sounds

Alliterative R sounds

Assonant A sounds

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

Through alliteration

Through onomatopoeia

Through assonance
24 What does morning symbolize?
A fresh start

Hard work

Solitude

Clarity
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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