Maya Angelou - Test
Maya Angelou
  • 1. What is Maya Angelou's full name?
A) Charlotte Bronte
B) Maya Olivia Williams
C) Marguerite Annie Johnson
D) Maya Angelou Smith
  • 2. Which of the following famous books did Maya Angelou write?
A) I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
B) The Great Gatsby
C) Harry Potter
D) The Da Vinci Code
  • 3. Maya Angelou spoke several languages and was known for her love of which particular language?
A) Mandarin
B) French
C) Arabic
D) Spanish
  • 4. Where was Maya Angelou born?
A) New York City, New York
B) Los Angeles, California
C) Chicago, Illinois
D) St. Louis, Missouri
  • 5. Maya Angelou served as a professor at which university?
A) Harvard University
B) Stanford University
C) Oxford University
D) Wake Forest University
  • 6. In addition to her published works, Maya Angelou also wrote lyrics for which famous singer?
A) Roberta Flack
B) Elton John
C) Beyoncé
D) Taylor Swift
  • 7. Maya Angelou was the poet chosen to deliver a poem at which U.S. president's inauguration?
A) George W. Bush
B) Donald Trump
C) Barack Obama
D) Bill Clinton
  • 8. Maya Angelou received a Tony Award nomination for her role in which play?
A) Hamilton
B) Cats
C) Les Misérables
D) Look Away
  • 9. Maya Angelou was the first African American woman to write a screenplay for a major motion picture. Which film was it?
A) The Shawshank Redemption
B) Avatar
C) Georgia, Georgia
D) Black Panther
  • 10. Which high honor did Maya Angelou receive in 2013 for her contributions to literature?
A) Nobel Prize
B) Presidential Medal of Freedom
C) Golden Globe Award
D) Emmy Award
  • 11. Which genre of music inspired Maya Angelou in her work?
A) Rap
B) Jazz
C) Classical
D) Blues
  • 12. Which U.S. president presented Maya Angelou with the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2010?
A) Donald Trump
B) George W. Bush
C) Barack Obama
D) Bill Clinton
  • 13. Maya Angelou was awarded the National Medal of Arts in which year?
A) 2020
B) 2000
C) 2010
D) 1990
  • 14. What nickname did Angelou's brother give her?
A) Sister
B) Marguerite
C) Annie
D) Maya
  • 15. Where did Maya Angelou and her brother live for the first three years of their lives?
A) With their maternal grandparents
B) In St. Louis with their parents
C) In Oakland, California
D) With their paternal grandmother
  • 16. Who helped Maya Angelou speak again?
A) Mrs. Bertha Flowers
B) Bailey Johnson
C) Annie Henderson
D) Vivian Johnson
  • 17. Which city did Maya Angelou move to with her mother when she was 14?
A) Stamps, Arkansas
B) Winston-Salem, North Carolina
C) San Francisco, California
D) Oakland, California
  • 18. What significant achievement did Maya Angelou accomplish at the age of 16?
A) Publishing her first book
B) Becoming the first Black female streetcar conductor in San Francisco
C) Moving to Oakland, California
D) Graduating from high school
  • 19. What was Maya Angelou's son's original name?
A) Bailey
B) Guy
C) Freeman
D) Clyde
  • 20. Who suggested Maya Angelou change her professional name to 'Maya Angelou'?
A) Alvin Ailey
B) Her managers and supporters at The Purple Onion
C) John Oliver Killens
D) Martin Luther King Jr.
  • 21. In which city did Maya Angelou study African dance with Pearl Primus?
A) Los Angeles
B) New York City
C) Chicago
D) San Francisco
  • 22. What was the name of the nightclub where Maya Angelou performed calypso music in San Francisco?
A) San Fran's
B) Harlem Nightclub
C) The Calypso Club
D) The Purple Onion
  • 23. What was the name of Maya Angelou and Alvin Ailey's dance team?
A) "Al and Rita"
B) "Maya and Alvin"
C) "Angelou and Ailey"
D) "Rita and Al"
  • 24. In which year did Maya Angelou's marriage to Tosh Angelos end?
A) 1954
B) 1956
C) 1958
D) 1960
  • 25. Which opera production did Maya Angelou tour Europe with in 1954 and 1955?
A) Carmen
B) Porgy and Bess
C) The Magic Flute
D) La Traviata
  • 26. What was the title of Maya Angelou's first album recorded in 1957?
A) Miss Calypso
B) Maya Sings
C) Calypso Heat Wave
D) Angelou's Calypsos
  • 27. Which organization did Maya Angelou become the Northern Coordinator for?
A) Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC)
B) Harlem Writers Guild
C) Fair Play for Cuba Committee
D) Civil Rights Movement
  • 28. Who urged Maya Angelou to move to New York and concentrate on her writing career?
A) Alvin Ailey
B) John Oliver Killens
C) Ruth Beckford
D) Martin Luther King Jr.
  • 29. In what year did Maya Angelou join the crowd cheering for Fidel Castro in Harlem?
A) 1961
B) 1958
C) 1960
D) 1959
  • 30. Which committee did Maya Angelou join to support pro-Castro and anti-apartheid activism?
A) Civil Rights Committee
B) Southern Christian Leadership Conference
C) Fair Play for Cuba Committee
D) Harlem Writers Guild
  • 31. In which play did Maya Angelou perform in 1961?
A) Fences
B) A Raisin in the Sun
C) The Blacks
D) For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide / When the Rainbow Is Enuf
  • 32. Who did Maya Angelou meet in 1961 that was a South African freedom fighter?
A) Nelson Mandela
B) Oliver Tambo
C) Vusumzi Make
D) Desmond Tutu
  • 33. What position did Maya Angelou hold at the University of Ghana?
A) Professor
B) Administrator
C) Dean
D) Student Advisor
  • 34. Which city did Maya Angelou move to with Vusumzi Make in 1961?
A) Cairo
B) Accra
C) London
D) Paris
  • 35. In which country did Maya Angelou work as an associate editor for The Arab Observer?
A) Egypt
B) South Africa
C) Ghana
D) United States
  • 36. Who was the civil rights leader that visited Accra and became close friends with Maya Angelou?
A) Martin Luther King Jr.
B) Thurgood Marshall
C) Malcolm X
D) Rosa Parks
  • 37. In which year did Maya Angelou return to the U.S. to help Malcolm X?
A) 1969
B) 1965
C) 1967
D) 1963
  • 38. What significant event in Maya Angelou's life happened on her 40th birthday?
A) She met James Baldwin
B) She published I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
C) Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated
D) She moved to Hawaii
  • 39. What type of series did Maya Angelou write, produce, and narrate for National Educational Television?
A) Dramas
B) Documentaries
C) Reality shows
D) Comedies
  • 40. Who encouraged Maya Angelou out of her depression after Martin Luther King Jr.'s assassination?
A) Rosa Parks
B) Malcolm X
C) James Baldwin
D) Nelson Mandela
  • 41. Who provided Maya Angelou with a stipend to support her writing?
A) James Baldwin
B) Jerry Purcell
C) Malcolm X
D) Robert Loomis
  • 42. What did Martin Luther King Jr. ask Maya Angelou to do in 1968?
A) Organize a march
B) Write an autobiography
C) Perform in a play
D) Create documentaries
  • 43. Where did Maya Angelou witness riots in the summer of 1965?
A) Watts
B) Detroit
C) Harlem
D) Chicago
  • 44. In which city did Maya Angelou return to focus on her writing career after moving back from Hawaii?
A) San Francisco
B) New York
C) Miami
D) Los Angeles
  • 45. Who did Maya Angelou marry in 1973?
A) Paul du Feu, a Welsh carpenter.
B) James Baldwin
C) Robert F. Kennedy
D) Martin Luther King Jr.
  • 46. In which year did Maya Angelou recite her poem at Bill Clinton's presidential inauguration?
A) 1989.
B) 1993.
C) 1997.
D) 2001.
  • 47. What was the title of Maya Angelou's sixth autobiography?
A) 'A Song Flung Up to Heaven'.
B) 'The Heart of a Woman'.
C) 'Gather Together in My Name'.
D) 'I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings'.
  • 48. In which year did Maya Angelou donate her personal papers to the Schomburg Center?
A) 2005.
B) 2010.
C) 2012.
D) 2008.
  • 49. What was Maya Angelou's role in the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial project?
A) She funded the memorial.
B) She designed the memorial.
C) She served as a consultant.
D) She unveiled the memorial.
  • 50. What was Maya Angelou's stance on Barack Obama's presidential campaign?
A) She remained neutral throughout the election.
B) She opposed his candidacy.
C) She supported him after Hillary Clinton's campaign ended.
D) She campaigned for John McCain.
  • 51. What was Maya Angelou's final autobiography?
A) 'All God's Children Need Traveling Shoes'.
B) 'Mom & Me & Mom'.
C) 'Gather Together in My Name'.
D) 'The Heart of a Woman'.
  • 52. What percentage of Maya Angelou's genetic makeup came from Central African peoples?
A) 45 percent
B) 60 percent
C) 55 percent
D) 40 percent
  • 53. How many autobiographies did Maya Angelou write that describe her life?
A) Nine
B) Three
C) Seven
D) Five
  • 54. Who was Maya Angelou's son named after?
A) Guy
B) Paul
C) Vusumzi
D) Tosh
  • 55. What did Maya Angelou prefer to be called by people outside of her family and close friends?
A) Dr. Angelou
B) Maya
C) Ms. Angelou
D) Mrs. Angelou
  • 56. In which city did Maya Angelou own a 'lordly brownstone'?
A) Winston-Salem
B) Harlem
C) St. Louis
D) Los Angeles
  • 57. What was the title of Maya Angelou's 2004 book that combined her cooking and writing skills?
A) Hallelujah! The Welcome Table
B) I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
C) Gather Together in My Name
D) Great Food, All Day Long
  • 58. Which website erroneously reported Maya Angelou's hospitalization in 2009?
A) Fox News
B) BBC
C) TMZ
D) CNN
  • 59. At what age did Maya Angelou pass away?
A) 80
B) 75
C) 86
D) 90
  • 60. What was Maya Angelou's role in the 1977 television mini-series 'Roots'?
A) Actress
B) Screenwriter
C) Producer
D) Director
  • 61. Who was Maya Angelou's editor throughout her writing career?
A) James Baldwin
B) Langston Hughes
C) Robert Loomis
D) Toni Morrison
  • 62. In which year was 'I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings' published?
A) 1974
B) 1981
C) 1969
D) 2002
  • 63. What age does Maya Angelou's first autobiography cover up to?
A) 40
B) 30
C) 17
D) 25
  • 64. Which period is covered in 'Gather Together in My Name'?
A) 1957–62
B) 1962–65
C) 1944–48
D) 1965–68
  • 65. 'Singin' and Swingin' and Gettin' Merry Like Christmas' covers which years?
A) 1957–62
B) 1949–55
C) 1962–65
D) 1965–68
  • 66. What is the main theme of 'I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings' according to Hilton Als?
A) Writing about blackness from the inside, without apology or defense
B) A political manifesto for civil rights
C) A historical account of African American culture
D) An exploration of feminist theory
  • 67. Which artist is NOT mentioned as being influenced by Angelou's poetry?
A) Kanye West
B) Nicki Minaj
C) Common
D) Tupac Shakur
  • 68. By what percentage did sales of Maya Angelou's books and poetry rise after her recitation?
A) 300–600%
B) 700–800%
C) 50–150%
D) 100–200%
  • 69. How many copies of Maya Angelou's books did Random House reprint due to increased demand?
A) 250,000
B) 500,000
C) 400,000
D) 350,000
  • 70. What was the percentage increase in Maya Angelou's book sales from 1992 to January 1993?
A) 800%
B) 1,200%
C) 900%
D) 1,500%
  • 71. Which writer did Maya Angelou agree with regarding writing for money?
A) Hemingway
B) Dickens
C) Balzac
D) Shakespeare
  • 72. What type of art form has Maya Angelou merged her talents into, according to Younge?
A) Film
B) Visual art
C) Dance
D) Performance art
  • 73. What position did 'I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings' hold on the ALA list of the 100 Most Frequently Challenged Books of 1990–2000?
A) Third
B) Tenth
C) First
D) Fifth
  • 74. In what year was the Presidential Medal of Freedom awarded to Maya Angelou?
A) 2011
B) 1999
C) 2005
D) 2015
  • 75. How many honorary degrees did Maya Angelou receive?
A) Forty-five
B) Twenty
C) More than fifty
D) Thirty
  • 76. When were the American Women quarters featuring Maya Angelou released?
A) December 2021
B) January 2022
C) March 2022
D) February 2022
  • 77. Who is the professor at George Washington University that trained teachers using Maya Angelou's works?
A) Jocelyn A. Glazier
B) Chris Boyatzis
C) Daniel Challener
D) Maya Angelou
  • 78. According to Harold Bloom, what kind of poetry is Maya Angelou best at?
A) Sonnets
B) Haikus
C) Ballads
D) Free verse
  • 79. What literary feature was necessary and accepted in literature at the time Angelou wrote Caged Bird?
A) Organic unity
B) Non-linear narrative structure.
C) Complete absence of themes.
D) Focus on poetry over prose.
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