A Small Needful Fact Quizzes

A Small Needful Fact Quiz

1 Who wrote "A Small Needful Fact?"

Roberto Huyen

Ross Gay

Robert Hayden

Ros Guy
2 Where was the poem originally published?

Be Holding

Catalog of Unabashed Gratitude

on Ross Gay's personal website

Split the Rock Poetry
3 What is the form and meter?

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.

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

The fourteen lines of the poem are written in a single stanza 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

Plants convert sunlight into food

Garner once worked for the Parks and Rec. Horticultural Department
5 When was Ross Gay born?

1981

1973

1974

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

gentle

very large

calloused

large
7 How did Eric Garner die?

He passed away from an asthma attack

He did not die

He died after a police officer placed him in a chokehold

He died when a police officer shot him
8 What words became part of a national movement?

I can't breathe

Give me freedom

Let me go

Let my people go
9 Which poem is "A Small Needful Fact" in conversation with?

Amiri Baraka's "An Agony. As Now."

Robert Hayden's "Frederick Douglass"

Amiri Baraka's "Frederick Douglass"

Robert Hayden's "An Agony. As Now."
10 What does Gay speculate that Garner did?

attempt to defend himself

sell cigarettes

keep the peace in his community

put gently into the earth some plants
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 writes against police brutality

Gay explicitly protests Garner's death
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?

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

"perhaps," "in all likelihood," and "most likely"

"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"

give breath to

house and feed small and necessary

house small

be pleasant and nice-smelling
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?

relating to the art or practice of garden cultivation and management

the term for systemic racism

the razing of a garden

the way culture changes over the course of history
17 What is the last movement of the poem?

"like converting sunlight into food" (Line 13)

"continue to grow" (Line 9)

"like making it easier / for us to breathe" (Lines 14-15)

"like being pleasant to touch and smell" (Line 12)
18 Which of the following is NOT a major theme of the poem?

Breath

Honoring a Life

The Glory of Faith

Nature and Connection
19 What do the poem's hedging phrases and commas NOT accomplish?

Contribute to the impact of the final lines

Cause the reader to rush through the reading

Create pauses for breath

Provide a tone of hesitation
20 How does the language about nature in this poem contrast from other works by Gay?

Gay does not usually write about nature

Gay uses sensory details in this poem whereas he usually does not

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

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

Freedom should belong to all

Frederick Douglass is embodied through the practice of liberty

Freedom and liberty are needful to man as air
23 How was Eric Garner known in his community?

as a musician

as a gardener

as a peacemaker

as a storyteller
24 Which of the following is not true about the poem?

The poem was widely shared across social media

The poem honors a man without trying to sanctify him

The poem is composed of a single sentence

The poem implicitly deals with Garner's past work
25 Which line from Gay's book Be Holding relates to "A Small Needful Fact?"

"a docent / in the museum of black pain"

“fly some from the overboard”

"for shooting the woman / and the little girl"

"but holds them both / in their flight"

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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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