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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. How does Burke use the word "delight?"

2. Why, according to Burke, is the idea of God sublime?

3. To which other passions is the idea of power closely related, according to Burke?

4. What, according to Burke, is the first and most simple emotion of the human mind?

5. What two aspects comprise Burke's "artificial infinity?"

Short Essay Questions

1. According to Burke, why can grief be considered pleasurable?

2. Describe the main difference between light and dark relative to the sublime.

3. What is Burke's idea of "artificial infinity?"

4. What significance do obscurity and clarity have to the sublime?

5. What is the significance of power in Burke's Enquiry, and what is one example he gives of power?

6. What motivated Burke to write "A Philosophical Enquiry Into the Origin of Our Ideas of the Sublime and Beautiful"?

7. What is the significance of the imagination, to Burke?

8. What does Burke identify as the central tension between the imagination and the judgment?

9. Summarize Burke's section about the role of smells and tastes relating to the sublime.

10. What is the significance of the senses to the faculty of taste, according to Burke?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Summarize Burke's definition of pain and pleasure. How do they exist relative to one another? How do they influence human passions? What state of being does one occupy when experiencing neither pain nor pleasure? How does Burke distinguish delight from pleasure, and how does he connect joy and grief? What examples does Burke use to support his definitions?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss Burke's attempts to prove a mind-body connection in Part IV. What does Burke acknowledge to be the limitations of this study? How are specific states of mind manifested by the body's reactions? How does Burke define "association?" How does association, as well as natural causes, affect the mind? What methods does Burke employ to discover the connection between mind and body? Does Burke use anecdotal examples, observational evidence or another kind of proof? How does he describe or define the basic cause of emotions being physically manifested in the body? Does the pathway between mind and body seem to run both ways, or only one way, according to Burke's arguments?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss the ways in which "A Philosophical Enquiry Into the Origin of Our Ideas of the Sublime and Beautiful" is a gendered text. Is the role of women in the text obvious or subtle, and in what ways? How does Burke's near universal usage of masculine or second person pronouns affect the way you read the text? How is Burke's use and inclusion of women reflective of the role and status of women in mid-18th century English society? What is your reaction to Burke's characterization of and use of women in the text? How can you apply what you know of feminist critical theory or gender theory to approach "A Philosophical Enquiry Into the Origin of Our Ideas of the Sublime and Beautiful"?

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