Basket of Figs Quizzes

Basket of Figs Quiz

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

Like a Beggar

The Human Line

Mules of Love

Indigo
2 When was this poem (and the collection it comes from) published?

2013

1998

2002

2001
3 What kind of relationship is portrayed in "Basket of Figs"?

A mother and daughter relationship

A loving lesbian relationship

A relationship between friends

A loving heterosexual relationship
4 What award did the collection as a whole receive?

The National Book Award

Lambda Literary Award honoring the book as an important LGBTQ work

Griffin Poetry Prize

Lambda Literary Award honoring the book as an important Jewish work
5 From whose perspective is the poem written?

First-person speaker addressing her lover in the second-person

Omniscient divine voice

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

Third-person speaker addressing her friend in the second-person
6 Describe the form and meter.

Two quatrains and three tercets written in blank verse.

Two quatrains and three tercets written in free verse.

Three quatrains and two tercets written in free verse.

Three quatrains and two tercets written in iambic pentameter.
7 What is a quatrain?

A line that gets repeated throughout the poem

A stanza with four lines

A refrain

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

Pomegranate seed

Basket of figs

Warm eggs

Milk and honey
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?

A smooth natural material made from fibers

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
11 Which is an example of alliteration?

spill your wine

basket of figs

intricate embroidery

silk sashes
12 What is alliteration?

A beautiful image

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

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
13 What is the tone of the poem?

Angry, Disillusioned

Firm, Tender, Loving, Erotic

Pensive, Calm, Loving

Passionate, Direct, Controlling
14 What is the implication of the lines "the hem stitched the way you were taught, / pricking just a thread, almost invisible"?

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 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.
15 Which sense is NOT engaged by "cinnamon / and cloves"?

Olfactory

Auditory

Gustatory

Visual
16 What does the olfactory sense refer to?

Hearing

Smell

Taste

Sight
17 Which line is best characterized as erotic?

"I would lift it // tenderly"

"Unclasp it like jewels"

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

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

A middle-aged woman coming to terms with aging

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
19 Which of the following is not a symbol in the poem?

Food

The mouth

Clothing and jewelry

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

Sensual Celebration

Vulnerability and Surrender

Unconditional Love

Community Love
21 What acts does the line about the "hard nugget of pain" imply?

Eating and Talking

Reflecting and Acting

Eating and Sex

Touching and Sex
22 What does the mention of animal behavior in the final stanza do in the poem?

It portrays the speaker and her partner as cats.

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.
23 Finish this quote: "Unclasp it like jewels, the gold___"

matching your eyes

/ still hot from your body

melting into your skin

still hot from my body
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 lover to relish the sweetness of life.

The speaker wants her partner to lose weight.

The speaker wants her partner not to waste food.
25 Why might the speaker tell her partner to spill her wine?

The speaker doesn't want her partner to act perfectly polite all the time.

The speaker wants her partner to embarrass herself.

The speaker wants her partner to drink less.

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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