Basket of Figs Quizzes

Basket of Figs Quiz

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

Indigo

The Human Line

Like a Beggar

Mules of Love
2 When was this poem (and the collection it comes from) published?

2013

2001

2002

1998
3 What kind of relationship is portrayed in "Basket of Figs"?

A loving lesbian relationship

A mother and daughter relationship

A relationship between friends

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

Lambda Literary Award honoring the book as an important Jewish work

Lambda Literary Award honoring the book as an important LGBTQ work

Griffin Poetry Prize

The National Book Award
5 From whose perspective is the poem written?

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

Omniscient divine voice

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

Third-person speaker addressing her lover in the third-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 free verse.

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

A refrain

A stanza with four lines

A stanza with three lines

A line that gets repeated throughout the poem
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

Fine rugs

A flower vase

Silk sashes
10 What is burlap?

A smooth natural material made from fibers

The way a baby burps after eating

A smooth material made in a factory

Coarse canvas woven from jute, hemp, or a similar fiber, used especially for sacking
11 Which is an example of alliteration?

spill your wine

silk sashes

basket of figs

intricate embroidery
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 vowel sounds in words that are close together in a sentence or verse

Repetition of the same sound at the start of a series of words in succession
13 What is the tone of the poem?

Firm, Tender, Loving, Erotic

Passionate, Direct, Controlling

Angry, Disillusioned

Pensive, Calm, Loving
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 makes detailed and intricate embroidery.

Other people forced the speaker's lover to learn how to sew as a child.

The speaker tries to hide her pain from her lover.
15 Which sense is NOT engaged by "cinnamon / and cloves"?

Auditory

Olfactory

Gustatory

Visual
16 What does the olfactory sense refer to?

Sight

Smell

Taste

Hearing
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 woman exploring her sexuality

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

Clothing and jewelry

Food

The mouth

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

Sensual Celebration

Vulnerability and Surrender

Community Love

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

Touching and Sex

Reflecting and Acting

Eating and Sex

Eating and Talking
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.

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.

There is no mention of animals in the poem.
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 lose weight.

The speaker wants her partner not to waste food.

The speaker wants her partner to eat more fruits and vegetables.

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

The speaker wants her partner to embarrass herself.

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

The speaker wants her partner to drink less.

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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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