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

Barack Obama

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

21

8

3
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?
Emotional isolation

Harmful immigration policies

The mystery of the past

Exciting secrecy
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 forgotten

That democracy is a fragile institution

That history must be bravely faced

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

Dactylic hexameter

Free verse

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

California in the Gold Rush

America

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

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 colonialism is ongoing throughout America's territories abroad
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?
1993

1964

2009

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

Awkward

Speeding up

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

Folk song common in the U.S.

Summertime

Temporary dwelling
15 What is a mendicant?
A farmer

A beggar

A seamstress

A doctor
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?
Tercets

Couplets

The poem has no single stanza type

Sextets
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 speaker

Human brutality

Mastodons

The neighbor
20 Who has NOT read a poem at a presidential inauguration?
Robert Frost

Langston Hughes

Elizabeth Alexander

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

Giving birth

Cooking a meal

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

Alliterative T sounds

Assonant OU sounds

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

Through assonance

Through rhyme

Through onomatopoeia
24 What does morning symbolize?
A fresh start

Clarity

Solitude

Hard work
25 What does "Midas" allude to?
A Native American tribe

An early African American poet

An American founding father

A mythological king

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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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