Basket of Figs Quizzes

Basket of Figs Quiz

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

Mules of Love

Like a Beggar

The Human Line

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

2002

2001

1998

2013
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

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

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

Omniscient divine voice
6 Describe the form and meter.

Three quatrains and two tercets written in iambic pentameter.

Two quatrains and three tercets written in free verse.

Three quatrains and two tercets written in free verse.

Two quatrains and three tercets written in blank verse.
7 What is a quatrain?

A stanza with three lines

A line that gets repeated throughout the poem

A refrain

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

Warm eggs

Pomegranate seed

Basket of figs

Milk and honey
9 Which material is not a metaphor for the lover's pain?

Fine rugs

Silk sashes

Gold jewelry

A flower vase
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?

spill your wine

silk sashes

intricate embroidery

basket of figs
12 What is alliteration?

Repetition of vowel sounds in words that are close together in a sentence or verse

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

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.

The speaker makes detailed and intricate embroidery.
15 Which sense is NOT engaged by "cinnamon / and cloves"?

Gustatory

Olfactory

Visual

Auditory
16 What does the olfactory sense refer to?

Sight

Smell

Hearing

Taste
17 Which line is best characterized as erotic?

"Spread / it out like fine rugs"

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

"I would lift it // tenderly"

"Unclasp it like jewels"
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 woman exploring her sexuality

A domineering partner who manipulates her lover by writing about her lover's pain

A middle-aged woman coming to terms with aging
19 Which of the following is not a symbol in the poem?

Clothing and jewelry

Food

Persimmon pit

The mouth
20 Which of the following is not a theme in the poem?

Sensual Celebration

Unconditional Love

Vulnerability and Surrender

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

Eating and Talking

Touching and Sex

Reflecting and Acting

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.

It suggests that the speaker is following her natural instincts to care for her partner.

There is no mention of animals in the poem.

It portrays the speaker and her partner as cats.
23 Finish this quote: "Unclasp it like jewels, the gold___"

/ still hot from your body

matching your eyes

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 lose weight.

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

The speaker wants her partner to drink less.

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.

The speaker wants her partner to embarrass herself.

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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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