A Small Needful Fact Quizzes

A Small Needful Fact Quiz

1 Who wrote "A Small Needful Fact?"
Ros Guy

Ross Gay

Roberto Huyen

Robert Hayden
2 Where was the poem originally published?
Catalog of Unabashed Gratitude

on Ross Gay's personal website

Split the Rock Poetry

Be Holding
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 two stanzas with no delineated meter or rhyme scheme.

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 a single stanza in iambic pentameter.
4 What is the "fact" mentioned in the poem's title?
Plants convert sunlight into food

Garner was forty-three when he died

Garner once worked for the Parks and Rec. Horticultural Department

Garner's life was tragically cut short
5 When was Ross Gay born?
1969

1974

1981

1973
6 How does the poet describe Garner's hands?
gentle

large

calloused

very large
7 How did Eric Garner die?
He died after a police officer placed him in a chokehold

He did not die

He passed away from an asthma attack

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

Let my people go

I can't breathe

Let me go
9 Which poem is "A Small Needful Fact" in conversation with?
Amiri Baraka's "Frederick Douglass"

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

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 honors Garner's life without attempting to sanctify him

Gay writes against police brutality

Gay explicitly protests Garner's death

Gay writes about Garner's past job
12 Where does the word "hedge" come from?
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

Old English hecg, originally any plant, living or artificial
13 Which hedging phrases are used in the poem?
"It is clear that" and "it has been suggested"

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

"may," "think," and "to some extent"

"perhaps," "in all likelihood," and "most likely"
14 Finish the quote: "continue to do what such plants do, like ___ creatures"
house small

give breath to

be pleasant and nice-smelling

house and feed small and necessary
15 Where does the word "like" 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”

Old English word gelic, originally any plant, living or artificial
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?
"continue to grow" (Line 9)

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

"like converting sunlight into food" (Line 13)

"like making it easier / for us to breathe" (Lines 14-15)
18 Which of the following is NOT a major theme of the poem?
Honoring a Life

The Glory of Faith

Breath

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

Provide a tone of hesitation

Create pauses for breath
20 How does the language about nature in this poem contrast from other works by Gay?
The flat and banal language of this poem contrasts Gay's usual exuberant descriptions

Gay does not usually write about nature

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

Gay uses sensory details in this poem whereas he usually does not
21 On Gay's personal website, what does he say he is interested in studying?
Happiness

Horticulture

Joy

Poetry
22 In Robert Hayden's sonnet, what important comparison is made that is relevant to "A Small Needful Fact?"
Freedom and liberty are needful to man as air

Liberty is a beautiful dream

Freedom should belong to all

Frederick Douglass is embodied through the practice of liberty
23 How was Eric Garner known in his community?
as a storyteller

as a musician

as a gardener

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

The poem honors a man without trying to sanctify him

The poem implicitly deals with Garner's past work

The poem was widely shared across social media
25 Which line from Gay's book Be Holding relates to "A Small Needful Fact?"
"a docent / in the museum of black pain"

"for shooting the woman / and the little girl"

"but holds them both / in their flight"

“fly some from the overboard”

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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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