A Small Needful Fact Quizzes

A Small Needful Fact Quiz

1 Who wrote "A Small Needful Fact?"

Robert Hayden

Ros Guy

Ross Gay

Roberto Huyen
2 Where was the poem originally published?

Be Holding

Split the Rock Poetry

on Ross Gay's personal website

Catalog of Unabashed Gratitude
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 was forty-three when he died

Garner once worked for the Parks and Rec. Horticultural Department

Garner's life was tragically cut short

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

1974

1969

1981

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

calloused

very large

gentle

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?

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 "Frederick Douglass"

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

keep the peace in his community

sell cigarettes

put gently into the earth some plants

attempt to defend himself
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?

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

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

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

"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 hecg, originally any plant, 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

Old English hecg, originally any fence, living or artificial
16 What is horticulture?

relating to the art or practice of garden cultivation and management

the razing of a garden

the way culture changes over the course of history

the term for systemic racism
17 What is the last movement of the poem?

"like converting sunlight into food" (Line 13)

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

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

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

Breath

Nature and Connection

Honoring a Life

The Glory of Faith
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?

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

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

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

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

Poetry

Horticulture

Happiness

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

Frederick Douglass is embodied through the practice of liberty

Freedom should belong to all

Liberty is a beautiful dream
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 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?"

“fly some from the overboard”

"a docent / in the museum of black pain"

"but holds them both / in their flight"

"for shooting the woman / and the little girl"

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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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