Basket of Figs Quizzes

Basket of Figs Quiz

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

Like a Beggar

Indigo

The Human Line
2 When was this poem (and the collection it comes from) published?
1998

2001

2002

2013
3 What kind of relationship is portrayed in "Basket of Figs"?
A loving heterosexual relationship

A mother and daughter relationship

A relationship between friends

A loving lesbian relationship
4 What award did the collection as a whole receive?
The National Book Award

Griffin Poetry Prize

Lambda Literary Award honoring the book as an important Jewish work

Lambda Literary Award honoring the book as an important LGBTQ work
5 From whose perspective is the poem written?
Third-person speaker addressing her friend in the second-person

Third-person speaker addressing her lover in the third-person

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

Omniscient divine voice
6 Describe the form and meter.
Three quatrains and two tercets written in free verse.

Three quatrains and two tercets written in iambic pentameter.

Two quatrains and three tercets written in blank verse.

Two quatrains and three tercets written in free verse.
7 What is a quatrain?
A line that gets repeated throughout the poem

A refrain

A stanza with four lines

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

Milk and honey

Basket of figs

Warm eggs
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 material made in a factory

A smooth natural material made from fibers

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

The way a baby burps after eating
11 Which is an example of alliteration?
silk sashes

spill your wine

basket of figs

intricate embroidery
12 What is alliteration?
A beautiful image

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

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?
Pensive, Calm, Loving

Passionate, Direct, Controlling

Firm, Tender, Loving, Erotic

Angry, Disillusioned
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 speaker makes detailed and intricate embroidery.

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

The lover had a hand in creating her pain, and she seeks to hide her pain from the world by making it "almost invisible."
15 Which sense is NOT engaged by "cinnamon / and cloves"?
Auditory

Visual

Olfactory

Gustatory
16 What does the olfactory sense refer to?
Smell

Hearing

Taste

Sight
17 Which line is best characterized as erotic?
"Unclasp it like jewels"

"Spread / it out like fine rugs"

"I would lift it // tenderly"

"That hard nugget of pain, I would suck it,"
18 Which of the following best characterizes the speaker?
A woman exploring her sexuality

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

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

A middle-aged woman coming to terms with aging
19 Which of the following is not a symbol in the poem?
Food

Clothing and jewelry

Persimmon pit

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

Unconditional Love

Sensual Celebration

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

Eating and Sex

Eating and Talking

Reflecting and Acting
22 What does the mention of animal behavior in the final stanza do in the poem?
It evokes the animal-like instinct in the speaker to consume her partner.

There is no mention of animals in the poem.

It portrays the speaker and her partner as cats.

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

matching your eyes

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

The speaker wants her partner not to waste food.
25 Why might the speaker tell her partner to spill her wine?
The speaker doesn't want her partner to act perfectly polite all the time.

The speaker wants her partner to embarrass herself.

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

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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