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?

2002

1998

2013

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

A loving lesbian relationship

A loving heterosexual relationship

A relationship between friends

A mother and daughter relationship
4 What award did the collection as a whole receive?

Lambda Literary Award honoring the book as an important LGBTQ work

Griffin Poetry Prize

The National Book Award

Lambda Literary Award honoring the book as an important Jewish work
5 From whose perspective is the poem written?

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

Omniscient divine voice

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.

Two quatrains and three tercets written in blank verse.

Two quatrains and three tercets written in free verse.

Three quatrains and two tercets written in iambic pentameter.

Three quatrains and two tercets written in free verse.
7 What is a quatrain?

A stanza with four lines

A line that gets repeated throughout the poem

A refrain

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

Basket of figs

Milk and honey

Warm eggs

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

Silk sashes

Fine rugs

Gold jewelry

A flower vase
10 What is burlap?

A smooth natural material made from fibers

A smooth material made in a factory

The way a baby burps after eating

Coarse canvas woven from jute, hemp, or a similar fiber, used especially for sacking
11 Which is an example of alliteration?

intricate embroidery

spill your wine

basket of figs

silk sashes
12 What is alliteration?

Repetition of vowel sounds in words that are close together in a sentence or verse

A beautiful image

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

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
13 What is the tone of the poem?

Passionate, Direct, Controlling

Firm, Tender, Loving, Erotic

Angry, Disillusioned

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

The speaker tries to hide her pain from her lover.

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

Other people forced the speaker's lover to learn how to sew as a child.

The speaker makes detailed and intricate embroidery.
15 Which sense is NOT engaged by "cinnamon / and cloves"?

Visual

Gustatory

Auditory

Olfactory
16 What does the olfactory sense refer to?

Taste

Hearing

Sight

Smell
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 middle-aged woman coming to terms with aging

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

A woman exploring her sexuality

A confident authority figure who is capable of providing stability and love for her partner
19 Which of the following is not a symbol in the poem?

Persimmon pit

Clothing and jewelry

The mouth

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

Unconditional Love

Community Love

Sensual Celebration

Vulnerability and Surrender
21 What acts does the line about the "hard nugget of pain" imply?

Eating and Talking

Reflecting and Acting

Eating and Sex

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.

There is no mention of animals in the poem.

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.
23 Finish this quote: "Unclasp it like jewels, the gold___"

melting into your skin

/ still hot from your body

still hot from my body

matching your eyes
24 Why does the speaker tell her partner to empty a basket of figs?

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

The speaker wants her partner to lose weight.

The speaker wants her partner not to waste food.

The speaker wants her partner to eat more fruits and vegetables.
25 Why might the speaker tell her partner to spill her wine?

The speaker wants her partner to embarrass herself.

The speaker wants her partner to drink less.

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

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

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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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