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This quiz consists of 5 multiple choice and 5 short answer questions through Part I.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What general quality does Burke assert about "taste?"
(a) It is natural and common to all people.
(b) It is the sole means of valuing an individual.
(c) It is the province of the refined upper-class.
(d) It is unnecessary for discussion about beauty.

2. What, according to Burke, is most striking to this creative power of mind?
(a) Comparing resemblances between or imitations of two distinct objects.
(b) Arguments of fairness in disagreements among social unequals.
(c) The potential value of an object.
(d) The quality of laughter in human communication.

3. What example does Burke offer to show his ideas on the effects of tragedy?
(a) London being destroyed by an earthquake.
(b) A mother and father losing their infant to an early death.
(c) A mass-murderer terrorizing the city.
(d) The shocking regicide of the monarch.

4. What does Burke want "A Philosophical Enquiry Into the Origin of Our Ideas of the Sublime and Beautiful" to accomplish?
(a) The Enquiry will open minds.
(b) The Enquiry will be useful in schools.
(c) The Enquiry will teach people about nature.
(d) The Enquiry will disprove older theories.

5. What example does Burke use to demonstrate that differing tastes stem from the same basic root?
(a) Two different types of poetry.
(b) The description of pretty ladies in a drawing room.
(c) The comparison of two historical moments.
(d) A comparison of two breeds of a horse.

Short Answer Questions

1. What is Burke's argument for the existence of the passion of ambition?

2. What examples does Burke use to argue that some sights are pleasurable to all people?

3. What is the general reason Burke wrote the book, as stated in the First Preface?

4. What is Burke's general plan of action for this book?

5. What large part of text has Burke added between the First and Second editions?

(see the answer key)

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