Basket of Figs Quizzes

Basket of Figs Quiz

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

Like a Beggar

Mules of Love

Indigo

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

2013

2001

2002

1998
3 What kind of relationship is portrayed in "Basket of Figs"?

A relationship between friends

A loving lesbian relationship

A loving heterosexual relationship

A mother and daughter 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 LGBTQ work

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

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

First-person speaker addressing her lover in the second-person
6 Describe the form and meter.

Two quatrains and three tercets written in blank verse.

Three quatrains and two tercets written in iambic pentameter.

Two quatrains and three tercets written in free verse.

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

A refrain

A stanza with four lines

A stanza with three lines

A line that gets repeated throughout the poem
8 Which food item is not a metaphor for the lover's pain?

Basket of figs

Warm eggs

Pomegranate seed

Milk and honey
9 Which material is not a metaphor for the lover's pain?

Silk sashes

A flower vase

Fine rugs

Gold jewelry
10 What is burlap?

A smooth natural material made from fibers

The way a baby burps after eating

A smooth material made in a factory

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

silk sashes

basket of figs

intricate embroidery

spill your wine
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 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

A beautiful image
13 What is the tone of the poem?

Firm, Tender, Loving, Erotic

Angry, Disillusioned

Passionate, Direct, Controlling

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 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?

Taste

Sight

Smell

Hearing
17 Which line is best characterized as erotic?

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

"Unclasp it like jewels"

"I would lift it // tenderly"

"Spread / it out like fine rugs"
18 Which of the following best characterizes the speaker?

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

A woman exploring her sexuality

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?

Persimmon pit

Food

The mouth

Clothing and jewelry
20 Which of the following is not a theme in the poem?

Vulnerability and Surrender

Community Love

Unconditional Love

Sensual Celebration
21 What acts does the line about the "hard nugget of pain" imply?

Eating and Talking

Eating and Sex

Touching and Sex

Reflecting and Acting
22 What does the mention of animal behavior in the final stanza do in the poem?

There is no mention of animals in the poem.

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

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

It portrays the speaker and her partner as cats.
23 Finish this quote: "Unclasp it like jewels, the gold___"

/ still hot from your body

melting into your skin

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 not to waste food.

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

The speaker wants her partner to lose weight.

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 drink less.

The speaker wants her partner to embarrass herself.

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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