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This quiz consists of 5 multiple choice and 5 short answer questions through Part IV, Sections VIII - XXV.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What is the main manifestation of infinity Burke mentions?
(a) A quiet walk in a grove of trees.
(b) A recurring dream or nightmare.
(c) A seemingly endless journey.
(d) A frequently repeated idea or motion.

2. What does Burke use as an example of difficulty as greatness?
(a) Stonehenge.
(b) Roman aqueducts.
(c) The Great Wall of China.
(d) The Pyramids of Egypt.

3. What does Burke term the "creative power" of the mind?
(a) Will.
(b) Imagination.
(c) Judgment.
(d) Emotion.

4. What does Burke assert is necessary for the success of "A Philosophical Enquiry Into the Origin of Our Ideas of the Sublime and Beautiful"?
(a) To make his readers agree with him.
(b) To debunk all outmoded notions of the sublime.
(c) To establish the principles of taste.
(d) To demonstrate his expansive knowledge of the passions.

5. Why, as Burke argues, are humans "more inclined to belief than to incredulity?"
(a) Because belief engages the imagination pleasantly, while incredulity is naturally negative.
(b) Because God is born in all of us, so we have a natural inclination to believe in him.
(c) Because believing makes it easier to get along with others in the social-contract model of society.
(d) Because believing something is easy, whereas not believing is more difficult.

Short Answer Questions

1. How is blackness different from darkness, according to Burke?

2. What does Burke warn his readers about in the Second Preface?

3. Which example does Burke use to support his argument regarding the nature of darkness?

4. Why, according to Burke, is proportion not the cause of beauty in animals?

5. According to Burke, why is procreation pleasurable?

(see the answer key)

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