First Fig Quizzes

First Fig Quiz

1 What is the poet's full name?

Edna Vincent Millay

Edna St. Vincent Millay

Vicenta Millay

Edna Millay
2 What is the title of the poem?

First Fig

Second Fig

Candlelight

Light
3 Finish this quote: "My candle___"

gives me such a fright

belongs to my foes and my friends

burns at both ends

will not last the night
4 How many lines are in the poem?

5

6

3

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

sextet

couplet

quintet

quatrain
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 poem is incomplete.

She was too lazy to write more.

The form demonstrates the content.
7 What do figs represent?

Rottenness, bitterness in life

Poison, shame, and disgust

Sweetness, enjoyment of life, femininity

Patience, caution
8 What does the candle represent?

The speaker's life

Immortality

Religion

The speaker's faith
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?

Friends

Hens

Sends

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

Kite

Might

Sight

Light
12 What is the meter?

Common meter

Blank verse

Iambic pentameter

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

The syllables per line do not alternate

Eight and seven

Five and four

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

Rhyme

Personification

Alliteration

Metaphor
15 Which is not a theme in the poem?

Light and Vitality

Seizing the Night

Challenging Gender Norms

People-pleasing
16 How does the speaker describe her light?

Radiant

Lovely

Gorgeous

Beautiful
17 What does the light represent?

The speaker's vitality and passion

Electricity

Danger

The coming of day
18 What is significant about the speaker having foes?

The speaker hated everyone.

The speaker was antisocial.

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

It is not relevant.
19 What punctuation mark does the poem end with?

A question

An exclamation

A period

A dash
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?

Second April

Collected Poems

A Few Figs From Thistles

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

1920

1923

1922

1925
23 When was Edna St. Vincent Millay born?

1915

1892

1900

1880
24 Where did Millay live her adult life?

Maine

Florida

Vermont

New York
25 What is the tone of the poem?

Assertive, Celebratory, Passionate

Joyful, Airy, Shrewd

Pessimistic, Fearful, Angry

Bitter, Wrathful, Seeking

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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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