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

Jimmy Carter

Bill Clinton

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

3

21

8
3 What is the work's rhyme scheme?
ABABAB

AABBCC

ABBA CDDC

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

Emotional isolation

Exciting secrecy

Harmful immigration policies
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 forgotten

That free speech is both dangerous and necessary

That democracy is a fragile institution

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?
Free verse

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

Dactylic hexameter

Iambic pentameter
9 Where does the poem take place?
California in the Gold Rush

New Orleans

Washington, D.C.

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

That interpersonal and environmental destruction go hand-in-hand

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?
Wooly mammoth

Mastodon

Single-celled amoeba

Pterodactyl
12 In which year was this poem first performed?
1964

2009

1993

2012
13 What is meant by the word "hastening"?
Speeding up

A type of seasoning

Awkward

Storming
14 What is meant by the word "sojourn"?
Folk song common in the U.S.

Temporary dwelling

Presidential term

Summertime
15 What is a mendicant?
A seamstress

A doctor

A beggar

A farmer
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 offering itself up for the good of the nation

By leading call-and-response chants to bring an audience together

By describing how it forgives and embraces its oppressors
17 What type of stanzas comprise this poem?
The poem has no single stanza type

Couplets

Tercets

Sextets
18 Which of the following is used as a metaphor for cynicism?
A telephone

A garden

A wound

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

The speaker

Mastodons

Human brutality
20 Who has NOT read a poem at a presidential inauguration?
Elizabeth Alexander

Robert Frost

Amanda Gorman

Langston Hughes
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

Assonant OU sounds

Alliterative T sounds

Assonant A 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?
Clarity

A fresh start

Solitude

Hard work
25 What does "Midas" allude to?
An early African American poet

A mythological king

An American founding father

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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