A Small Needful Fact Quizzes

A Small Needful Fact Quiz

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

Roberto Huyen

Ross Gay

Robert Hayden
2 Where was the poem originally published?
Split the Rock Poetry

on Ross Gay's personal website

Be Holding

Catalog of Unabashed Gratitude
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 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 two stanzas with no delineated meter or rhyme scheme.
4 What is the "fact" mentioned in the poem's title?
Garner once worked for the Parks and Rec. Horticultural Department

Garner's life was tragically cut short

Garner was forty-three when he died

Plants convert sunlight into food
5 When was Ross Gay born?
1981

1974

1973

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

calloused

large

very large
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 died when a police officer shot him

He did not die
8 What words became part of a national movement?
Let my people go

Let me go

Give me freedom

I can't breathe
9 Which poem is "A Small Needful Fact" in conversation with?
Robert Hayden's "An Agony. As Now."

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

Robert Hayden's "Frederick Douglass"

Amiri Baraka's "Frederick Douglass"
10 What does Gay speculate that Garner did?
put gently into the earth some plants

attempt to defend himself

keep the peace in his community

sell cigarettes
11 What is relevant about the way Gay writes about Garner?
Gay writes against police brutality

Gay honors Garner's life without attempting to sanctify him

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 hecg, originally any plant, 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?
"presumably," "so to speak," and "seems"

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

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

"It is clear that" and "it has been suggested"
14 Finish the quote: "continue to do what such plants do, like ___ creatures"
house and feed small and necessary

give breath to

be pleasant and nice-smelling

house small
15 Where does the word "like" come from?
Old English hecg, originally any plant, living or artificial

Old English word gelic, 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”
16 What is horticulture?
the term for systemic racism

the razing of a garden

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 being pleasant to touch and smell" (Line 12)

"like converting sunlight into food" (Line 13)

"continue to grow" (Line 9)

"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

Breath

The Glory of Faith

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

Cause the reader to rush through the reading

Contribute to the impact of the final lines

Provide a tone of hesitation
20 How does the language about nature in this poem contrast from other works by Gay?
This poem's metaphors contrast Gay's typical matter-of-factness

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

Poetry

Happiness

Horticulture
22 In Robert Hayden's sonnet, what important comparison is made that is relevant to "A Small Needful Fact?"
Frederick Douglass is embodied through the practice of liberty

Liberty is a beautiful dream

Freedom should belong to all

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

as a peacemaker

as a musician

as a storyteller
24 Which of the following is not true about the poem?
The poem honors a man without trying to sanctify him

The poem is composed of a single sentence

The poem was widely shared across social media

The poem implicitly deals with Garner's past work
25 Which line from Gay's book Be Holding relates to "A Small Needful Fact?"
"for shooting the woman / and the little girl"

“fly some from the overboard”

"a docent / in the museum of black pain"

"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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