First Fig Quizzes

First Fig Quiz

1 What is the poet's full name?
Edna Vincent Millay

Edna St. Vincent Millay

Vicenta Millay

Edna Millay
2 What is the title of the poem?
First Fig

Light

Candlelight

Second Fig
3 Finish this quote: "My candle___"
gives me such a fright

belongs to my foes and my friends

burns at both ends

will not last the night
4 How many lines are in the poem?
4

3

6

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

quatrain

quintet

couplet
6 Why might have Millay chosen the particular length of this poem to be what it is?
The form demonstrates the content.

The poem is incomplete.

She was too lazy to write more.

She wanted to show that couplets are the superior form.
7 What do figs represent?
Sweetness, enjoyment of life, femininity

Poison, shame, and disgust

Rottenness, bitterness in life

Patience, caution
8 What does the candle represent?
The speaker's life

The speaker's faith

Immortality

Religion
9 What does the idiom of a candle burning at both ends mean?
The intelligence to create more light.

A fast and intense lifestyle that leads to burnout or death.

Wit and elegance.

A person who hates studying.
10 What word rhymes with "ends" in the poem?
Hens

Sends

Lends

Friends
11 What word rhymes with "night" in the poem?
Light

Kite

Sight

Might
12 What is the meter?
Iambic pentameter

Common meter

Free verse

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

Eight and six

Five and four

The syllables per line do not alternate
14 Which poetic device is not used in the poem?
Metaphor

Personification

Alliteration

Rhyme
15 Which is not a theme in the poem?
Seizing the Night

People-pleasing

Challenging Gender Norms

Light and Vitality
16 How does the speaker describe her light?
Gorgeous

Lovely

Beautiful

Radiant
17 What does the light represent?
The coming of day

The speaker's vitality and passion

Electricity

Danger
18 What is significant about the speaker having foes?
It means that she lived a public, authentic, and controversial lifestyle.

The speaker was antisocial.

The speaker hated everyone.

It is not relevant.
19 What punctuation mark does the poem end with?
A question

A period

A dash

An exclamation
20 What is a spondee?
A stressed syllable followed by an unstressed syllable.

A foot consisting of two unstressed syllables.

A foot consisting of two long (or stressed) syllables.

An unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable.
21 Which collection was this poem originally published in?
Second April

The Ballad of the Harp Weaver

Collected Poems

A Few Figs From Thistles
22 When was the collection published?
1925

1922

1920

1923
23 When was Edna St. Vincent Millay born?
1900

1915

1892

1880
24 Where did Millay live her adult life?
Florida

Maine

Vermont

New York
25 What is the tone of the poem?
Pessimistic, Fearful, Angry

Joyful, Airy, Shrewd

Bitter, Wrathful, Seeking

Assertive, Celebratory, Passionate

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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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