Incident (Trethewey Poem) Quizzes

Incident (Trethewey Poem) Quiz

1 When was the poem published?
2006

2000

2015

2001
2 What word best describes the poem's tone?
Earnest and simple

Distant and removed

Warm and direct

Dark and eerie
3 Which of the following is NOT a poem by Trethewey?
Incident

Parker's Mood

Myth

Native Guard
4 What kind of story does the mood of the poem imitate?
A sea shanty

A heroic ballad

A love song

A ghost story
5 What does the poem depict?
A family's home being burned down

Members of the Ku Klux Klan burning a cross

A major holiday

A murder in the woods
6 What prize did Trethewey receive for the collection that "Incident" was included in?
The Bollingen Prize

The Pulitzer Prize

The National Book Award

A Golden Globe
7 What form does the poem utilize?
Haiku

Pantoum

Villanelle

Sonnet
8 Where was Trethewey born?
Richmond, Virginia

Gulfport, Mississippi

Austin, Texas

Montreal, Canada
9 What is the structure of a pantoum?
The second and fourth lines of a stanza are reused as the first and third lines of the next stanza

Ten lines of unrhymed iambic pentameter, followed by a rhyming couplet

Two lines of five syllables and one line of seven syllables

Six lines with an ABBACC rhyme scheme
10 Where is the poem set?
In a small town at night, likely in the South

In Little Rock, Arkansas

In Birmingham, Alabama

In the woods
11 What is the title of the collection the poem was originally included in?
Native Guard

Domestic Work

Monument

Thrall
12 What pronoun does the speaker use to refer to themselves?
We

They

She

I
13 Which of the following lines contains assonance?
"It seemed the angels had gathered, white men in their gowns."

"we darkened our rooms, lit the hurricane lamps."

"We tell the story every year—"

"at the cross trussed like a Christmas tree,"
14 What does the speaker compare the Klan members to?
Angels

Demons

Loose flames

Beasts
15 Which of the following lines is an example of personification?
"The wicks trembled all night in their fonts of oil;"

"By morning all the flames had dimmed."

"Nothing really happened."

"the charred grass still green."
16 What is a "hurricane lamp"?
An oil lantern

A specially designed lightbulb

A candle

A flashlight
17 Why does the speaker use the word "trembling" to describe the wick of the hurricane lamp?
Because it suggests the fear they felt in that moment

Because the men outside were afraid

Because it rhymes with the next line

Because the fire wasn't burning brightly
18 Which of the following is an important symbol in the poem?
Rivers

The trees

Flames

The moon
19 When does the climax of the poem occur?
When the speaker retells the story

The morning after the cross burning

When the men are shown around the cross

When the speaker peers out the window
20 Who are the antagonists of the poem?
The members of the Klan

A disembodied force

The other townspeople

The governor
21 What is the meaning of the word "charred"?
Burnt and blackened

Shining brightly

Crunched

Grilled
22 Which of the following is NOT a theme of the poem?
Repression

Love

Fear

Storytelling
23 What is depicted in the poem "Myth"?
The story of Icarus

The story of Orpheus

The story of Hades

The story of Iphigenia
24 What is the genre of the poem?
Pastiche

Ekphrasis

Victorian poetry

Historical poetry
25 What is foreshadowed in the poem's opening lines?
That the speaker witnessed something troubling

That the speaker is nosy

That the speaker is bad at telling stories

That the speaker's family is close

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Study Guide for Incident (Trethewey Poem)

Incident (Trethewey Poem) study guide contains a biography of Natasha Trethewey, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis.

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