Incident (Trethewey Poem) Quizzes

Incident (Trethewey Poem) Quiz

1 When was the poem published?
2000

2001

2015

2006
2 What word best describes the poem's tone?
Warm and direct

Earnest and simple

Distant and removed

Dark and eerie
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 heroic ballad

A love song

A ghost story

A sea shanty
5 What does the poem depict?
A murder in the woods

A major holiday

A family's home being burned down

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

The Bollingen Prize

A Golden Globe

The Pulitzer Prize
7 What form does the poem utilize?
Pantoum

Villanelle

Haiku

Sonnet
8 Where was Trethewey born?
Austin, Texas

Montreal, Canada

Richmond, Virginia

Gulfport, Mississippi
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

Six lines with an ABBACC rhyme scheme

Two lines of five syllables and one line of seven syllables
10 Where is the poem set?
In the woods

In a small town at night, likely in the South

In Birmingham, Alabama

In Little Rock, Arkansas
11 What is the title of the collection the poem was originally included in?
Domestic Work

Native Guard

Monument

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

We

I

She
13 Which of the following lines contains assonance?
"We tell the story every year—"

"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."
14 What does the speaker compare the Klan members to?
Loose flames

Demons

Beasts

Angels
15 Which of the following lines is an example of personification?
"Nothing really happened."

"the charred grass still green."

"By morning all the flames had dimmed."

"The wicks trembled all night in their fonts of oil;"
16 What is a "hurricane lamp"?
A flashlight

An oil lantern

A specially designed lightbulb

A candle
17 Why does the speaker use the word "trembling" to describe the wick of the hurricane lamp?
Because the men outside were afraid

Because the fire wasn't burning brightly

Because it rhymes with the next line

Because it suggests the fear they felt in that moment
18 Which of the following is an important symbol in the poem?
The trees

The moon

Rivers

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 other townspeople

The members of the Klan

The governor

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

Crunched

Burnt and blackened

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

Love

Storytelling

Fear
23 What is depicted in the poem "Myth"?
The story of Hades

The story of Iphigenia

The story of Orpheus

The story of Icarus
24 What is the genre of the poem?
Ekphrasis

Victorian poetry

Historical poetry

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

That the speaker's family is close

That the speaker is nosy

That the speaker is bad at telling stories

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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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