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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. According to Burke, why is procreation pleasurable?
(a) To incite people to engage in it, since it is necessary to survival.
(b) Because without some form of pleasure, society would devolve into warfare.
(c) To connect humans and animals in the realm of the senses.
(d) Because the rest of life is terrible, and there must be at least one pleasurable thing in life.

2. What does Burke say is the primary passion ignited by the sublime?
(a) Joy.
(b) Astonishment.
(c) Anger.
(d) Confusion.

3. Which method of teaching does Burke think best?
(a) Allowing the learner to investigate the subject.
(b) Lecturing the learner on the subject.
(c) Testing the learner on the subject.
(d) Referring obliquely to the subject in conversation with the learner.

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

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

6. How do all emotions and passions affect the human mind?
(a) By natural, uniform, predictable principles.
(b) By forcing the mind to yield to the heart.
(c) With unpredictable, greatly varying effects.
(d) With scarring, searing effects.

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

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

9. Which passion belongs under the heading of "self-preservation?"
(a) Pain.
(b) Sadness.
(c) Desire.
(d) Anger.

10. What is Burke's argument that infinity exists in pleasing objects?
(a) Humans are pleased by the unlimited potential of these objects.
(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) Pleasantness is a feeling that goes on forever within our minds.

11. What colors appropriately represent the sublime?
(a) Reds and oranges.
(b) Yellows and creams.
(c) Blues and greens.
(d) Blacks and browns.

12. What term does Burke use to reflect uncertainty relative to the sublime?
(a) "Intermitting."
(b) "Steady."
(c) "Random."
(d) "Harsh."

13. 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 believing makes it easier to get along with others in the social-contract model of society.
(c) Because believing something is easy, whereas not believing is more difficult.
(d) Because God is born in all of us, so we have a natural inclination to believe in him.

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

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

Short Answer Questions

1. Why, according to Burke, do we delight in the tragedies of others?

2. What does Burke use as a common, but bad, example of infinity?

3. What two main passions connect with this creative power of the mind?

4. In what year was "A Philosophical Enquiry Into the Origin of Our Ideas of the Sublime and Beautiful" first published?

5. What is the state between pleasure and pain, according to Burke?

(see the answer keys)

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