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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What two aspects comprise Burke's "artificial infinity?"
(a) Terror and greatness.
(b) Succession and uniformity.
(c) Curiosity and desire.
(d) Strength and power.

2. Why is suddenness sublime, according to Burke?
(a) Because the mind is suddenly put on its guard.
(b) Because that which is sudden is very interesting.
(c) Because easy transitions are pleasant.
(d) Because the body's reaction is unpredictable.

3. What is this creative power of the mind incapable of producing?
(a) Anything passionate.
(b) Anything of great consequence.
(c) Anything truly new.
(d) Anything captivating.

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

5. Which two ideas does Burke often find confused with one another?
(a) Sublime and beauty.
(b) Picturesque and picaresque.
(c) Fear and terror.
(d) Liberty and patriotism.

6. How, according to Burke, can light and dark be equal?
(a) If one experiences light and dark for equal periods of time.
(b) Because according to science, there is no difference between light and dark.
(c) Only when quantities balance each other.
(d) When the overpowering nature of one creates the effect of the other.

7. Why are the cries of animals sublime, according to Burke?
(a) Because they convey great ideas of pain and danger.
(b) Because they remind people of their humanity.
(c) Because they instill a feeling of sympathy in listeners.
(d) Because they reassure listeners of their own reasoning capacities.

8. What, according to Burke, is the first and most simple emotion of the human mind?
(a) Indifference, or lassitude.
(b) Curiosity, or novelty.
(c) Hunger, or longing.
(d) Fear, or terror.

9. What are sources of the "sublime?"
(a) Anything that promotes pleasure.
(b) Anything that excites terror, pain, or danger.
(c) Anything that causes the subject to think deeply.
(d) Anything of beauty.

10. Which example does Burke use in his discussion in Section VIII about infinity?
(a) The military.
(b) Cropland.
(c) Madmen.
(d) The ocean.

11. According to Burke, what is more powerful than light at representing the sublime?
(a) Humanity.
(b) Water.
(c) Darkness.
(d) Fire.

12. How does Burke define sympathy?
(a) As a desirable state of mind reached by looking inward towards one's own soul.
(b) As an unnecessary show of weakness that will cause pain.
(c) As a sort of emotional substitution between people or through art.
(d) As a painful realization, and reasoned acceptance, of one's humanity .

13. What two main passions connect with this creative power of the mind?
(a) Curiosity and understanding.
(b) Love and hate.
(c) Lust and desire.
(d) Pain and pleasure.

14. Burke opines that buildings that are great only in dimension are:
(a) Too simple and common to be sublime.
(b) Only deceptively large.
(c) The epitome of sublimity in architecture.
(d) Paragons of human imagination.

15. What does Burke warn his readers about in the Second Preface?
(a) His book may make them angry.
(b) His book will challenge their core values.
(c) His book will contain faults.
(d) His book may be construed as unpatriotic.

Short Answer Questions

1. What example does Burke offer to show his ideas on the effects of tragedy?

2. What set of animals does Burke use as examples of power and the sublime?

3. What does Burke say is the primary passion ignited by the sublime?

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

5. How do smells and tastes become sublime most effectively?

(see the answer keys)

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