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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. To which other passions is the idea of power closely related, according to Burke?
(a) Fear and terror.
(b) Love and desire.
(c) Joy and delight.
(d) Curiosity and novelty.

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

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

4. Which of the following is one of the general privations Burke lists?
(a) Darkness.
(b) Sleep.
(c) Hunger.
(d) Insanity.

5. To which human faculty does "taste" belong?
(a) To the passions.
(b) To the will.
(c) To the imagination.
(d) To the soul.

6. When might the sublime be delightful?
(a) When it fills the entirety of one's being.
(b) When one considers it intellectually.
(c) When it truly threatens one's safety.
(d) When one experiences it from a safe distance.

7. In which instance are feelings productive of the sublime?
(a) When the feelings are of love and desire.
(b) When the feelings are of pain or anguish.
(c) When the feelings are of delight and joy.
(d) When the feelings are of confusion and depression.

8. What attracts people to one another, argues Burke?
(a) Beauty.
(b) Wealth.
(c) Intelligence.
(d) Personality.

9. Why is imitation important, according to Burke?
(a) It is how we try to get closer to God.
(b) It forms our manners and opinions.
(c) It allows us to learn in school.
(d) It facilitates comedy in the theater.

10. Burke's general definition for "obscurity" is:
(a) That which we cannot fully know.
(b) That which is not famous.
(c) That which is most humble.
(d) That which is hidden from view.

11. What is Burke's argument that infinity exists in pleasing objects?
(a) Pleasantness is a feeling that goes on forever within our minds.
(b) Infinity itself is a pleasant concept, so an infinite object must be pleasant.
(c) The only truly pleasing object is the night sky, which is truly infinite.
(d) Humans are pleased by the unlimited potential of these objects.

12. How does Burke define pain and pleasure?
(a) They are necessary to each other and cannot be separated.
(b) They are figments of human imagination that help us explain our world.
(c) They are each of a positive nature, not dependent upon each other.
(d) They are the only essential qualities about which people are concerned.

13. Which idea is more effective over the other in affecting the imagination, according to Burke?
(a) Obscurity, rather than clarity.
(b) Originality, rather than imitation.
(c) Shock value, rather than predictability.
(d) Refinement, rather than coarseness.

14. How does Burke define "magnificence?"
(a) As the power and might of a strong warrior or noble king.
(b) As that which requires magnification due to its miniscule size.
(c) As all that delights the eye by shimmering and glittering.
(d) As a great profusion of things that are splendid or valuable in and of themselves.

15. What is Burke's general plan of action for this book?
(a) It will focus only on human society.
(b) It will refute all other theories of the sublime.
(c) It will be a methodical study.
(d) It will posit wild, untested new ideas.

Short Answer Questions

1. How do all emotions and passions affect the human mind?

2. What literary example does Burke give as representative of magnificence?

3. How does Burke define "grief?"

4. What smells or tastes are, according to Burke, the only smells or tastes capable of producing grand sensations?

5. What, according to Burke, affects the passions and most incites admiration?

(see the answer keys)

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