First Fig Quizzes

First Fig Quiz

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

Edna St. Vincent Millay

Edna Vincent Millay

Vicenta Millay
2 What is the title of the poem?
Second Fig

Candlelight

Light

First Fig
3 Finish this quote: "My candle___"
belongs to my foes and my friends

burns at both ends

will not last the night

gives me such a fright
4 How many lines are in the poem?
4

6

5

3
5 What is the name for a stanza with the amount of lines that this poem has?
couplet

sextet

quatrain

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

She wanted to show that couplets are the superior form.

The poem is incomplete.

She was too lazy to write more.
7 What do figs represent?
Rottenness, bitterness in life

Patience, caution

Poison, shame, and disgust

Sweetness, enjoyment of life, femininity
8 What does the candle represent?
Immortality

The speaker's faith

The speaker's life

Religion
9 What does the idiom of a candle burning at both ends mean?
A person who hates studying.

The intelligence to create more light.

Wit and elegance.

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

Friends

Lends

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

Kite

Might

Sight
12 What is the meter?
Free verse

Common meter

Blank verse

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

Eight and seven

The syllables per line do not alternate

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

Metaphor

Rhyme

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

Light and Vitality

Challenging Gender Norms

People-pleasing
16 How does the speaker describe her light?
Lovely

Gorgeous

Radiant

Beautiful
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 is not relevant.

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

The speaker hated everyone.

The speaker was antisocial.
19 What punctuation mark does the poem end with?
A period

An exclamation

A question

A dash
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?
A Few Figs From Thistles

Second April

The Ballad of the Harp Weaver

Collected Poems
22 When was the collection published?
1920

1922

1925

1923
23 When was Edna St. Vincent Millay born?
1880

1892

1900

1915
24 Where did Millay live her adult life?
Vermont

Florida

Maine

New York
25 What is the tone of the poem?
Assertive, Celebratory, Passionate

Bitter, Wrathful, Seeking

Pessimistic, Fearful, Angry

Joyful, Airy, Shrewd

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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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