First Fig Quizzes

First Fig Quiz

1 What is the poet's full name?
Edna Millay

Vicenta Millay

Edna St. Vincent Millay

Edna Vincent Millay
2 What is the title of the poem?
Second Fig

Light

First Fig

Candlelight
3 Finish this quote: "My candle___"
will not last the night

burns at both ends

belongs to my foes and my friends

gives me such a fright
4 How many lines are in the poem?
5

3

4

6
5 What is the name for a stanza with the amount of lines that this poem has?
quintet

sextet

quatrain

couplet
6 Why might have Millay chosen the particular length of this poem to be what it is?
She wanted to show that couplets are the superior form.

The form demonstrates the content.

The poem is incomplete.

She was too lazy to write more.
7 What do figs represent?
Patience, caution

Rottenness, bitterness in life

Poison, shame, and disgust

Sweetness, enjoyment of life, femininity
8 What does the candle represent?
Religion

Immortality

The speaker's faith

The speaker's life
9 What does the idiom of a candle burning at both ends mean?
Wit and elegance.

A fast and intense lifestyle that leads to burnout or death.

A person who hates studying.

The intelligence to create more light.
10 What word rhymes with "ends" in the poem?
Lends

Hens

Sends

Friends
11 What word rhymes with "night" in the poem?
Kite

Might

Sight

Light
12 What is the meter?
Blank verse

Free verse

Common meter

Iambic pentameter
13 What number of alternating syllables per line does this poem have?
Five and four

Eight and six

The syllables per line do not alternate

Eight and seven
14 Which poetic device is not used in the poem?
Alliteration

Rhyme

Personification

Metaphor
15 Which is not a theme in the poem?
People-pleasing

Challenging Gender Norms

Light and Vitality

Seizing the Night
16 How does the speaker describe her light?
Lovely

Beautiful

Radiant

Gorgeous
17 What does the light represent?
The coming of day

Danger

The speaker's vitality and passion

Electricity
18 What is significant about the speaker having foes?
The speaker hated everyone.

The speaker was antisocial.

It is not relevant.

It means that she lived a public, authentic, and controversial lifestyle.
19 What punctuation mark does the poem end with?
A period

A question

A dash

An exclamation
20 What is a spondee?
A foot consisting of two long (or stressed) syllables.

An unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable.

A foot consisting of two unstressed syllables.

A stressed syllable followed by an unstressed syllable.
21 Which collection was this poem originally published in?
Collected Poems

Second April

A Few Figs From Thistles

The Ballad of the Harp Weaver
22 When was the collection published?
1923

1925

1922

1920
23 When was Edna St. Vincent Millay born?
1892

1900

1880

1915
24 Where did Millay live her adult life?
New York

Maine

Florida

Vermont
25 What is the tone of the poem?
Pessimistic, Fearful, Angry

Bitter, Wrathful, Seeking

Assertive, Celebratory, Passionate

Joyful, Airy, Shrewd

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Study Guide for First Fig

First Fig study guide contains a biography of Edna St. Vincent Millay, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis.

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