Basket of Figs Quizzes

Basket of Figs Quiz

1 What collection was "Basket of Figs" published in?

Mules of Love

Indigo

The Human Line

Like a Beggar
2 When was this poem (and the collection it comes from) published?

2013

2002

1998

2001
3 What kind of relationship is portrayed in "Basket of Figs"?

A loving heterosexual relationship

A mother and daughter relationship

A loving lesbian relationship

A relationship between friends
4 What award did the collection as a whole receive?

Lambda Literary Award honoring the book as an important Jewish work

Lambda Literary Award honoring the book as an important LGBTQ work

The National Book Award

Griffin Poetry Prize
5 From whose perspective is the poem written?

Omniscient divine voice

Third-person speaker addressing her friend in the second-person

First-person speaker addressing her lover in the second-person

Third-person speaker addressing her lover in the third-person
6 Describe the form and meter.

Three quatrains and two tercets written in iambic pentameter.

Two quatrains and three tercets written in blank verse.

Three quatrains and two tercets written in free verse.

Two quatrains and three tercets written in free verse.
7 What is a quatrain?

A refrain

A stanza with four lines

A line that gets repeated throughout the poem

A stanza with three lines
8 Which food item is not a metaphor for the lover's pain?

Milk and honey

Warm eggs

Basket of figs

Pomegranate seed
9 Which material is not a metaphor for the lover's pain?

Silk sashes

Fine rugs

A flower vase

Gold jewelry
10 What is burlap?

Coarse canvas woven from jute, hemp, or a similar fiber, used especially for sacking

A smooth natural material made from fibers

The way a baby burps after eating

A smooth material made in a factory
11 Which is an example of alliteration?

silk sashes

spill your wine

intricate embroidery

basket of figs
12 What is alliteration?

Figure of speech in which a word or phrase literally denoting one kind of object or idea is used in place of another to suggest a likeness or analogy between them

Repetition of the same sound at the start of a series of words in succession

A beautiful image

Repetition of vowel sounds in words that are close together in a sentence or verse
13 What is the tone of the poem?

Passionate, Direct, Controlling

Angry, Disillusioned

Pensive, Calm, Loving

Firm, Tender, Loving, Erotic
14 What is the implication of the lines "the hem stitched the way you were taught, / pricking just a thread, almost invisible"?

The lover had a hand in creating her pain, and she seeks to hide her pain from the world by making it "almost invisible."

The speaker tries to hide her pain from her lover.

The speaker makes detailed and intricate embroidery.

Other people forced the speaker's lover to learn how to sew as a child.
15 Which sense is NOT engaged by "cinnamon / and cloves"?

Visual

Olfactory

Gustatory

Auditory
16 What does the olfactory sense refer to?

Smell

Hearing

Sight

Taste
17 Which line is best characterized as erotic?

"Spread / it out like fine rugs"

"That hard nugget of pain, I would suck it,"

"Unclasp it like jewels"

"I would lift it // tenderly"
18 Which of the following best characterizes the speaker?

A domineering partner who manipulates her lover by writing about her lover's pain

A confident authority figure who is capable of providing stability and love for her partner

A middle-aged woman coming to terms with aging

A woman exploring her sexuality
19 Which of the following is not a symbol in the poem?

Persimmon pit

Clothing and jewelry

Food

The mouth
20 Which of the following is not a theme in the poem?

Vulnerability and Surrender

Community Love

Sensual Celebration

Unconditional Love
21 What acts does the line about the "hard nugget of pain" imply?

Eating and Talking

Eating and Sex

Reflecting and Acting

Touching and Sex
22 What does the mention of animal behavior in the final stanza do in the poem?

It portrays the speaker and her partner as cats.

It evokes the animal-like instinct in the speaker to consume her partner.

It suggests that the speaker is following her natural instincts to care for her partner.

There is no mention of animals in the poem.
23 Finish this quote: "Unclasp it like jewels, the gold___"

matching your eyes

still hot from my body

melting into your skin

/ still hot from your body
24 Why does the speaker tell her partner to empty a basket of figs?

The speaker wants her partner not to waste food.

The speaker wants her partner to eat more fruits and vegetables.

The speaker wants her lover to relish the sweetness of life.

The speaker wants her partner to lose weight.
25 Why might the speaker tell her partner to spill her wine?

The speaker doesn't want her partner to drink a whole glass.

The speaker wants her partner to embarrass herself.

The speaker doesn't want her partner to act perfectly polite all the time.

The speaker wants her partner to drink less.

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Study Guide for Basket of Figs

Basket of Figs study guide contains a biography of Ellen Bass, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis.

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