First Fig Quizzes

First Fig Quiz

1 What is the poet's full name?

Vicenta Millay

Edna St. Vincent Millay

Edna Millay

Edna Vincent Millay
2 What is the title of the poem?

First Fig

Candlelight

Light

Second Fig
3 Finish this quote: "My candle___"

belongs to my foes and my friends

will not last the night

gives me such a fright

burns at both ends
4 How many lines are in the poem?

5

3

4

6
5 What is the name for a stanza with the amount of lines that this poem has?

quintet

couplet

sextet

quatrain
6 Why might have Millay chosen the particular length of this poem to be what it is?

She was too lazy to write more.

The poem is incomplete.

The form demonstrates the content.

She wanted to show that couplets are the superior form.
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

Religion

The speaker's faith

Immortality
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?

Lends

Friends

Hens

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

Kite

Might

Sight

Light
12 What is the meter?

Common meter

Iambic pentameter

Free verse

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

Eight and six

The syllables per line do not alternate

Five and four

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

Personification

Rhyme

Alliteration

Metaphor
15 Which is not a theme in the poem?

Light and Vitality

People-pleasing

Challenging Gender Norms

Seizing the Night
16 How does the speaker describe her light?

Radiant

Beautiful

Lovely

Gorgeous
17 What does the light represent?

Electricity

Danger

The speaker's vitality and passion

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

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

The speaker was antisocial.

It is not relevant.

The speaker hated everyone.
19 What punctuation mark does the poem end with?

An exclamation

A question

A dash

A period
20 What is a spondee?

A stressed syllable followed by an unstressed syllable.

A foot consisting of two unstressed syllables.

An unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable.

A foot consisting of two long (or stressed) syllables.
21 Which collection was this poem originally published in?

Second April

A Few Figs From Thistles

Collected Poems

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

1920

1923

1925

1922
23 When was Edna St. Vincent Millay born?

1880

1915

1900

1892
24 Where did Millay live her adult life?

Vermont

New York

Maine

Florida
25 What is the tone of the poem?

Bitter, Wrathful, Seeking

Assertive, Celebratory, Passionate

Joyful, Airy, Shrewd

Pessimistic, Fearful, Angry

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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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