First Fig Quizzes

First Fig Quiz

1 What is the poet's full name?

Edna St. Vincent Millay

Edna Millay

Edna Vincent Millay

Vicenta Millay
2 What is the title of the poem?

Light

First Fig

Candlelight

Second Fig
3 Finish this quote: "My candle___"

burns at both ends

gives me such a fright

will not last the night

belongs to my foes and my friends
4 How many lines are in the poem?

6

3

5

4
5 What is the name for a stanza with the amount of lines that this poem has?

quintet

couplet

quatrain

sextet
6 Why might have Millay chosen the particular length of this poem to be what it is?

The form demonstrates the content.

She wanted to show that couplets are the superior form.

She was too lazy to write more.

The poem is incomplete.
7 What do figs represent?

Poison, shame, and disgust

Sweetness, enjoyment of life, femininity

Patience, caution

Rottenness, bitterness in life
8 What does the candle represent?

The speaker's life

The speaker's faith

Religion

Immortality
9 What does the idiom of a candle burning at both ends mean?

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

Wit and elegance.

The intelligence to create more light.

A person who hates studying.
10 What word rhymes with "ends" in the poem?

Lends

Sends

Hens

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

Might

Sight

Light

Kite
12 What is the meter?

Iambic pentameter

Blank verse

Common meter

Free verse
13 What number of alternating syllables per line does this poem have?

The syllables per line do not alternate

Five and four

Eight and seven

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

Rhyme

Alliteration

Metaphor

Personification
15 Which is not a theme in the poem?

Challenging Gender Norms

People-pleasing

Light and Vitality

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

Lovely

Radiant

Beautiful

Gorgeous
17 What does the light represent?

The coming of day

The speaker's vitality and passion

Danger

Electricity
18 What is significant about the speaker having foes?

It is not relevant.

It means that she lived a public, authentic, and controversial lifestyle.

The speaker hated everyone.

The speaker was antisocial.
19 What punctuation mark does the poem end with?

A dash

A question

An exclamation

A period
20 What is a spondee?

A stressed syllable followed by an unstressed syllable.

A foot consisting of two unstressed syllables.

A foot consisting of two long (or stressed) syllables.

An unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable.
21 Which collection was this poem originally published in?

The Ballad of the Harp Weaver

Collected Poems

A Few Figs From Thistles

Second April
22 When was the collection published?

1925

1923

1922

1920
23 When was Edna St. Vincent Millay born?

1880

1915

1900

1892
24 Where did Millay live her adult life?

Florida

Vermont

Maine

New York
25 What is the tone of the poem?

Assertive, Celebratory, Passionate

Bitter, Wrathful, Seeking

Pessimistic, Fearful, Angry

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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