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