Incident (Trethewey Poem) Quizzes

Incident (Trethewey Poem) Quiz

1 When was the poem published?

2001

2006

2015

2000
2 What word best describes the poem's tone?

Distant and removed

Dark and eerie

Earnest and simple

Warm and direct
3 Which of the following is NOT a poem by Trethewey?

Native Guard

Myth

Parker's Mood

Incident
4 What kind of story does the mood of the poem imitate?

A sea shanty

A heroic ballad

A ghost story

A love song
5 What does the poem depict?

A major holiday

A family's home being burned down

A murder in the woods

Members of the Ku Klux Klan burning a cross
6 What prize did Trethewey receive for the collection that "Incident" was included in?

The National Book Award

A Golden Globe

The Pulitzer Prize

The Bollingen Prize
7 What form does the poem utilize?

Pantoum

Sonnet

Villanelle

Haiku
8 Where was Trethewey born?

Gulfport, Mississippi

Richmond, Virginia

Montreal, Canada

Austin, Texas
9 What is the structure of a pantoum?

Six lines with an ABBACC rhyme scheme

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

Two lines of five syllables and one line of seven syllables

The second and fourth lines of a stanza are reused as the first and third lines of the next stanza
10 Where is the poem set?

In a small town at night, likely in the South

In the woods

In Little Rock, Arkansas

In Birmingham, Alabama
11 What is the title of the collection the poem was originally included in?

Native Guard

Thrall

Monument

Domestic Work
12 What pronoun does the speaker use to refer to themselves?

She

We

They

I
13 Which of the following lines contains assonance?

"It seemed the angels had gathered, white men in their gowns."

"at the cross trussed like a Christmas tree,"

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

"We tell the story every year—"
14 What does the speaker compare the Klan members to?

Beasts

Loose flames

Angels

Demons
15 Which of the following lines is an example of personification?

"The wicks trembled all night in their fonts of oil;"

"Nothing really happened."

"the charred grass still green."

"By morning all the flames had dimmed."
16 What is a "hurricane lamp"?

A specially designed lightbulb

A flashlight

A candle

An oil lantern
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 the fire wasn't burning brightly

Because it rhymes with the next line
18 Which of the following is an important symbol in the poem?

Rivers

The trees

The moon

Flames
19 When does the climax of the poem occur?

The morning after the cross burning

When the speaker retells the story

When the speaker peers out the window

When the men are shown around the cross
20 Who are the antagonists of the poem?

The members of the Klan

The governor

The other townspeople

A disembodied force
21 What is the meaning of the word "charred"?

Shining brightly

Burnt and blackened

Grilled

Crunched
22 Which of the following is NOT a theme of the poem?

Fear

Love

Storytelling

Repression
23 What is depicted in the poem "Myth"?

The story of Orpheus

The story of Iphigenia

The story of Icarus

The story of Hades
24 What is the genre of the poem?

Victorian poetry

Ekphrasis

Pastiche

Historical poetry
25 What is foreshadowed in the poem's opening lines?

That the speaker is bad at telling stories

That the speaker witnessed something troubling

That the speaker is nosy

That the speaker's family is close

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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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