A Small Needful Fact Quizzes

A Small Needful Fact Quiz

1 Who wrote "A Small Needful Fact?"
Ross Gay

Ros Guy

Roberto Huyen

Robert Hayden
2 Where was the poem originally published?
Be Holding

Split the Rock Poetry

Catalog of Unabashed Gratitude

on Ross Gay's personal website
3 What is the form and meter?
The fourteen lines of the poem are written in a single stanza with no delineated meter or rhyme scheme.

The fifteen lines of the poem are written in a single stanza in iambic pentameter.

The fifteen lines of the poem are written in a single stanza with no delineated meter or rhyme scheme.

The fifteen lines of the poem are written in two stanzas with no delineated meter or rhyme scheme.
4 What is the "fact" mentioned in the poem's title?
Garner's life was tragically cut short

Garner was forty-three when he died

Garner once worked for the Parks and Rec. Horticultural Department

Plants convert sunlight into food
5 When was Ross Gay born?
1973

1981

1974

1969
6 How does the poet describe Garner's hands?
very large

large

gentle

calloused
7 How did Eric Garner die?
He died when a police officer shot him

He did not die

He died after a police officer placed him in a chokehold

He passed away from an asthma attack
8 What words became part of a national movement?
Give me freedom

I can't breathe

Let my people go

Let me go
9 Which poem is "A Small Needful Fact" in conversation with?
Amiri Baraka's "An Agony. As Now."

Amiri Baraka's "Frederick Douglass"

Robert Hayden's "An Agony. As Now."

Robert Hayden's "Frederick Douglass"
10 What does Gay speculate that Garner did?
keep the peace in his community

put gently into the earth some plants

attempt to defend himself

sell cigarettes
11 What is relevant about the way Gay writes about Garner?
Gay writes about Garner's past job

Gay honors Garner's life without attempting to sanctify him

Gay explicitly protests Garner's death

Gay writes against police brutality
12 Where does the word "hedge" come from?
Old English hecg, originally any plant, living or artificial

Old English hecg, originally any fence, living or artificial

Old English word gelic, that meant “with the body,” as in “with the body of"

The plants that often line sidewalks and houses
13 Which hedging phrases are used in the poem?
"perhaps," "in all likelihood," and "most likely"

"It is clear that" and "it has been suggested"

"presumably," "so to speak," and "seems"

"may," "think," and "to some extent"
14 Finish the quote: "continue to do what such plants do, like ___ creatures"
house small

house and feed small and necessary

be pleasant and nice-smelling

give breath to
15 Where does the word "like" come from?
Old English word gelic, originally any plant, living or artificial

Old English hecg, originally any fence, living or artificial

Old English hecg, originally any plant, living or artificial

Old English word gelic, that meant “with the body,” as in “with the body of”
16 What is horticulture?
the term for systemic racism

relating to the art or practice of garden cultivation and management

the way culture changes over the course of history

the razing of a garden
17 What is the last movement of the poem?
"like making it easier / for us to breathe" (Lines 14-15)

"continue to grow" (Line 9)

"like being pleasant to touch and smell" (Line 12)

"like converting sunlight into food" (Line 13)
18 Which of the following is NOT a major theme of the poem?
Breath

Nature and Connection

The Glory of Faith

Honoring a Life
19 What do the poem's hedging phrases and commas NOT accomplish?
Contribute to the impact of the final lines

Create pauses for breath

Cause the reader to rush through the reading

Provide a tone of hesitation
20 How does the language about nature in this poem contrast from other works by Gay?
Gay uses sensory details in this poem whereas he usually does not

This poem's metaphors contrast Gay's typical matter-of-factness

The flat and banal language of this poem contrasts Gay's usual exuberant descriptions

Gay does not usually write about nature
21 On Gay's personal website, what does he say he is interested in studying?
Horticulture

Happiness

Joy

Poetry
22 In Robert Hayden's sonnet, what important comparison is made that is relevant to "A Small Needful Fact?"
Liberty is a beautiful dream

Frederick Douglass is embodied through the practice of liberty

Freedom and liberty are needful to man as air

Freedom should belong to all
23 How was Eric Garner known in his community?
as a musician

as a storyteller

as a peacemaker

as a gardener
24 Which of the following is not true about the poem?
The poem is composed of a single sentence

The poem implicitly deals with Garner's past work

The poem was widely shared across social media

The poem honors a man without trying to sanctify him
25 Which line from Gay's book Be Holding relates to "A Small Needful Fact?"
“fly some from the overboard”

"for shooting the woman / and the little girl"

"but holds them both / in their flight"

"a docent / in the museum of black pain"

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Study Guide for A Small Needful Fact

A Small Needful Fact study guide contains a biography of Ross Gay, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis.

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