Basket of Figs Quizzes

Basket of Figs Quiz

1 What collection was "Basket of Figs" published in?
The Human Line

Mules of Love

Indigo

Like a Beggar
2 When was this poem (and the collection it comes from) published?
2001

1998

2013

2002
3 What kind of relationship is portrayed in "Basket of Figs"?
A loving lesbian relationship

A loving heterosexual relationship

A relationship between friends

A mother and daughter relationship
4 What award did the collection as a whole receive?
Lambda Literary Award honoring the book as an important LGBTQ work

The National Book Award

Lambda Literary Award honoring the book as an important Jewish work

Griffin Poetry Prize
5 From whose perspective is the poem written?
Omniscient divine voice

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
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 iambic pentameter.

Three quatrains and two tercets written in free verse.
7 What is a quatrain?
A stanza with four lines

A refrain

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?
Warm eggs

Basket of figs

Milk and honey

Pomegranate seed
9 Which material is not a metaphor for the lover's pain?
Gold jewelry

A flower vase

Silk sashes

Fine rugs
10 What is burlap?
A smooth material made in a factory

Coarse canvas woven from jute, hemp, or a similar fiber, used especially for sacking

The way a baby burps after eating

A smooth natural material made from fibers
11 Which is an example of alliteration?
basket of figs

intricate embroidery

silk sashes

spill your wine
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 the same sound at the start of a series of words in succession

Repetition of vowel sounds in words that are close together in a sentence or verse
13 What is the tone of the poem?
Pensive, Calm, Loving

Firm, Tender, Loving, Erotic

Angry, Disillusioned

Passionate, Direct, Controlling
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"?
Visual

Olfactory

Auditory

Gustatory
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"

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

"Spread / it out like fine rugs"

"Unclasp it like jewels"
18 Which of the following best characterizes the speaker?
A domineering partner who manipulates her lover by writing about her lover's pain

A woman exploring her sexuality

A confident authority figure who is capable of providing stability and love for her partner

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

Persimmon pit

Clothing and jewelry

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

Community Love

Unconditional Love

Vulnerability and Surrender
21 What acts does the line about the "hard nugget of pain" imply?
Eating and Talking

Touching and Sex

Eating and Sex

Reflecting and Acting
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 portrays the speaker and her partner as cats.

There is no mention of animals in the poem.

It suggests that the speaker is following her natural instincts to care for her partner.
23 Finish this quote: "Unclasp it like jewels, the gold___"
still hot from my body

melting into your skin

/ still hot from your body

matching your eyes
24 Why does the speaker tell her partner to empty a basket of figs?
The speaker wants her partner not to waste food.

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.
25 Why might the speaker tell her partner to spill her wine?
The speaker doesn't want her partner to act perfectly polite all the time.

The speaker wants her partner to embarrass herself.

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

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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