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