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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What, according to Burke, is responsible for common deviations in natural taste?
(a) A willingness to deceive others.
(b) Confusion of the mind.
(c) Humankind's natural curiosity.
(d) Custom and habit.

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

3. What does Burke mean by the word "Taste?"
(a) The sense of distinction that the higher social classes have above the lower social classes.
(b) Those faculties of the mind which form judgments upon the work of the imagination and the elegant arts.
(c) The sense of taste located on the tongue, which distinguish sweet, salty, bitter, and sour flavors.
(d) The notions of personal style that refined, elegant people display when in public.

4. Into which two classes does Burke group the passions of society?
(a) The societies of the educated and of the ignorant.
(b) High- and low-society, based upon the class into which one is born.
(c) The liberal society and the conservative society.
(d) General society and the society of the sexes.

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

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

7. What, according to Burke, is the cause of wrong "taste" in a person?
(a) A failure of the imagination.
(b) A defect of judgment.
(c) A failure of propriety.
(d) An overabundance of passion.

8. In Burke's opinion, at what depiction do painters most notably fail?
(a) The depiction of nobility.
(b) The depiction of the sea.
(c) The depiction of lovers.
(d) The depiction of hell.

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

10. How do smells and tastes become sublime most effectively?
(a) When moderated through narrative and description.
(b) When mediated through art.
(c) When they occur when one is in a dreaming state.
(d) When combined with eating and drinking.

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

12. According to Burke, what will the result be of the long, close study of an object?
(a) An increased sensibility of taste.
(b) An increased sense of anxiety.
(c) A decreased interest in the object.
(d) A decreased feeling of pleasure.

13. Why are certain drugs enjoyable, according to Burke?
(a) Because the users have no idea of the potential harm of the drug.
(b) Because the users only take them for their healthy properties.
(c) Because people can get them for a low cost.
(d) Because people become accustomed to their pleasurable effects.

14. To what effect does Burke use the example of the Turkish emperor?
(a) To demonstrate the barbarity of the Turks.
(b) To question the validity of theories on sculpture.
(c) To prove the existence of innate knowledge.
(d) To illustrate the difference between taste and knowledge.

15. What problem does Burke find with merely defining a term like "taste?"
(a) People may disagree with and contest his definition.
(b) Taste is only an idea, not a reality, so it cannot be defined or described.
(c) There is a danger of confining and limiting the term to our present understanding.
(d) The process of defining the term may go on forever, and become overwhelming.

Short Answer Questions

1. In which instance are feelings productive of the sublime?

2. What does Burke assert is necessary for the success of "A Philosophical Enquiry Into the Origin of Our Ideas of the Sublime and Beautiful"?

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

4. How does Burke define solitude?

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

(see the answer keys)

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