First Fig Quizzes

First Fig Quiz

1 What is the poet's full name?

Edna Millay

Edna St. Vincent Millay

Vicenta Millay

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

First Fig

Candlelight

Second Fig

Light
3 Finish this quote: "My candle___"

belongs to my foes and my friends

gives me such a fright

burns at both ends

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

6

5

4

3
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.

She was too lazy to write more.

The poem is incomplete.

She wanted to show that couplets are the superior form.
7 What do figs represent?

Poison, shame, and disgust

Sweetness, enjoyment of life, femininity

Rottenness, bitterness in life

Patience, caution
8 What does the candle represent?

Religion

The speaker's faith

The speaker's life

Immortality
9 What does the idiom of a candle burning at both ends mean?

Wit and elegance.

A person who hates studying.

The intelligence to create more light.

A fast and intense lifestyle that leads to burnout or death.
10 What word rhymes with "ends" in the poem?

Lends

Friends

Hens

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

Light

Sight

Kite

Might
12 What is the meter?

Common meter

Free verse

Blank verse

Iambic pentameter
13 What number of alternating syllables per line does this poem have?

Five and four

Eight and seven

Eight and six

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

Rhyme

Personification

Alliteration

Metaphor
15 Which is not a theme in the poem?

People-pleasing

Light and Vitality

Challenging Gender Norms

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

Lovely

Beautiful

Gorgeous

Radiant
17 What does the light represent?

Electricity

The coming of day

Danger

The speaker's vitality and passion
18 What is significant about the speaker having foes?

The speaker was antisocial.

It is not relevant.

The speaker hated everyone.

It means that she lived a public, authentic, and controversial lifestyle.
19 What punctuation mark does the poem end with?

A question

An exclamation

A period

A dash
20 What is a spondee?

A stressed syllable followed by an unstressed syllable.

An unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable.

A foot consisting of two unstressed syllables.

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

The Ballad of the Harp Weaver

Second April

Collected Poems

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

1922

1920

1923

1925
23 When was Edna St. Vincent Millay born?

1892

1915

1880

1900
24 Where did Millay live her adult life?

New York

Vermont

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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