Basket of Figs Quizzes

Basket of Figs Quiz

1 What collection was "Basket of Figs" published in?
The Human Line

Mules of Love

Indigo

Like a Beggar
2 When was this poem (and the collection it comes from) published?
2001

1998

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?
Lambda Literary Award honoring the book as an important LGBTQ work

The National Book Award

Lambda Literary Award honoring the book as an important Jewish work

Griffin Poetry Prize
5 From whose perspective is the poem written?
Third-person speaker addressing her lover in the third-person

Omniscient divine voice

Third-person speaker addressing her friend in the second-person

First-person speaker addressing her lover in the second-person
6 Describe the form and meter.
Two quatrains and three tercets written in free verse.

Two quatrains and three tercets written in blank verse.

Three quatrains and two tercets written in iambic pentameter.

Three quatrains and two tercets written in free verse.
7 What is a quatrain?
A stanza with four lines

A refrain

A line that gets repeated throughout the poem

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

Basket of figs

Warm eggs

Pomegranate seed
9 Which material is not a metaphor for the lover's pain?
Gold jewelry

A flower vase

Silk sashes

Fine rugs
10 What is burlap?
Coarse canvas woven from jute, hemp, or a similar fiber, used especially for sacking

The way a baby burps after eating

A smooth material made in a factory

A smooth natural material made from fibers
11 Which is an example of alliteration?
intricate embroidery

silk sashes

spill your wine

basket of figs
12 What is alliteration?
A beautiful image

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 the same sound at the start of a series of words in succession

Repetition of vowel sounds in words that are close together in a sentence or verse
13 What is the tone of the poem?
Passionate, Direct, Controlling

Firm, Tender, Loving, Erotic

Pensive, Calm, Loving

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 lover had a hand in creating her pain, and she seeks to hide her pain from the world by making it "almost invisible."

The speaker makes detailed and intricate embroidery.

Other people forced the speaker's lover to learn how to sew as a child.
15 Which sense is NOT engaged by "cinnamon / and cloves"?
Olfactory

Visual

Gustatory

Auditory
16 What does the olfactory sense refer to?
Taste

Hearing

Sight

Smell
17 Which line is best characterized as erotic?
"Spread / it out like fine rugs"

"I would lift it // tenderly"

"Unclasp it like jewels"

"That hard nugget of pain, I would suck it,"
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 domineering partner who manipulates her lover by writing about her lover's pain

A middle-aged woman coming to terms with aging

A woman exploring her sexuality
19 Which of the following is not a symbol in the poem?
The mouth

Clothing and jewelry

Food

Persimmon pit
20 Which of the following is not a theme in the poem?
Sensual Celebration

Unconditional Love

Community Love

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

Reflecting and Acting

Eating and Talking

Eating and Sex
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___"
/ still hot from your body

still hot from my body

matching your eyes

melting into your skin
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 partner not to waste food.

The speaker wants her partner to lose weight.

The speaker wants her lover to relish the sweetness of life.
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 act perfectly polite all the time.

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

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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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