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A bag of oranges that is ripe.
A bag of oranges that are ripe.
Should bag or oranges agree with the verb here? I think are is the correct choice here because oranges are what's ripe in this case. But if the sentence was something like
A bag of oranges that is torn
It would be is because the bag is the subject that is torn.
Is this the right way to think about this?
1: (A bag)(sing) of oranges that is ripe ( Relative pronoun 'that' indicates 'a bag')
{I don't know whether the oranges are ripe, but at least, the bag is ripe.}
2: A bag of oranges(pl) that are ripe ( 'that' indicates 'oranges')
{I am interested in the contents of the bag. They are all ripe.}
A bag of oranges that are ripe.
A bag of oranges that is torn.
Yes, your interpretations are fine.
Example 2, however, seems clumsy and could be re-constructed as Lambie has commented.
In example 1, the that-clause is a restrictive relative clause modifying oranges; the copula agrees with oranges, which is plural.
To avoid confusion, we can use adjectives before 'bag' and 'oranges' We can say, a torn bag, ripe oranges, and a torn bag of ripe oranges.
'I have a red cow.' We don't need to say 'I have a cow that/which is red'.
I think you have this right.
Your second sentence is maybe slightly strange, but perhaps only because of the specific example. If you said "A bag of mail that is torn" it sounds fine.
There are other cases where you could really go either way, like "A group of students that is/are noisy". The difference (I think) is that in those cases, the "group" is not a physical concept that the adjective either does or doesn't apply to.
