A Small Needful Fact Quizzes

A Small Needful Fact Quiz

1 Who wrote "A Small Needful Fact?"
Roberto Huyen

Ros Guy

Ross Gay

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

Be Holding

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 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.
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?
1969

1981

1974

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

large

calloused

gentle
7 How did Eric Garner die?
He passed away from an asthma attack

He died after a police officer placed him in a chokehold

He did not die

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

Give me freedom

Let me go

I can't breathe
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?
keep the peace in his community

attempt to defend himself

sell cigarettes

put gently into the earth some plants
11 What is relevant about the way Gay writes about Garner?
Gay writes against police brutality

Gay writes about Garner's past job

Gay honors Garner's life without attempting to sanctify him

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"

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

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

"presumably," "so to speak," and "seems"
14 Finish the quote: "continue to do what such plants do, like ___ creatures"
be pleasant and nice-smelling

house and feed small and necessary

house small

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 plant, living or artificial

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

Old English hecg, originally any fence, living or artificial
16 What is horticulture?
the razing of a garden

the term for systemic racism

the way culture changes over the course of history

relating to the art or practice of garden cultivation and management
17 What is the last movement of the poem?
"like making it easier / for us to breathe" (Lines 14-15)

"like converting sunlight into food" (Line 13)

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

"continue to grow" (Line 9)
18 Which of the following is NOT a major theme of the poem?
Nature and Connection

Honoring a Life

The Glory of Faith

Breath
19 What do the poem's hedging phrases and commas NOT accomplish?
Provide a tone of hesitation

Cause the reader to rush through the reading

Contribute to the impact of the final lines

Create pauses for breath
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

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
21 On Gay's personal website, what does he say he is interested in studying?
Happiness

Poetry

Horticulture

Joy
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 gardener

as a peacemaker

as a storyteller

as a musician
24 Which of the following is not true about the poem?
The poem implicitly deals with Garner's past work

The poem was widely shared across social media

The poem is composed of a single sentence

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?"
"for shooting the woman / and the little girl"

"a docent / in the museum of black pain"

“fly some from the overboard”

"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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