scratch a TINY bit off one of the twigs or off the trunk. If its greenish underneath its alive, if its brownish its dead....yu can also go out on a cool night and hold a branch. A cold branch has sap in it, a warm ones is dead.
Maybe I should try that scratch test on the fig "tree" that I planted last year. But I'm sure it gave up during, or just after, winter. (Only 1 of 3 blueberry bushes decided to stick around too. Most disheartening.)