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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. According to Burke, what is the mechanical reason darkness is terrible?
(a) The eye's compensation for darkness causes pain.
(b) The skin becomes less sensitive and reduces feeling.
(c) The body's processes slow down.
(d) The brain's ability to think is much reduced.

2. Burke contrasts smoothness to __________ in his discussion of beauty.
(a) Roughness.
(b) Opacity.
(c) Softness.
(d) Stickiness.

3. What does Burke consider darkness to be?
(a) Something with which all people are comfortable.
(b) Terrible in its own nature.
(c) The highest level of the sublime.
(d) The least imposing natural phenomenon.

4. What is John Locke's theory concerning darkness?
(a) Darkness is not naturally terrifying.
(b) Darkness is necessary to our ideas of death.
(c) Darkness represents human sin.
(d) Darkness must be feared.

5. How does Burke define "love?"
(a) As the satisfaction the mind feels upon contemplating the beautiful.
(b) As the sexual attraction between sexes.
(c) As the boldest and most striking of all the passions.
(d) As the natural state of human relationships with one another.

6. Upon what does the power of poetry NOT depend, according to Burke?
(a) Metaphor.
(b) Allusion.
(c) Tone.
(d) Imagery.

7. Which principle fits the image of a long, bare wall, according to Burke?
(a) Vastness.
(b) Infinity.
(c) Perspective.
(d) Proportion.

8. What does Burke expressly wish to discuss in this part of "A Philosophical Enquiry Into the Origin of Our Ideas of the Sublime and Beautiful"?
(a) The usefulness of the sublime in formulating theories of art.
(b) The various manifestations of the sublime and the beautiful in early-modern England.
(c) The connections between the thoughts in the mind and emotions produced in the body.
(d) The different cultural concepts of the beautiful in countries other than England.

9. What is another word for the "fitness" of objects about which Burke writes?
(a) Condition.
(b) Aptitude.
(c) Health.
(d) Utility.

10. What quality of mind does Burke find in women that he thinks is analogous to fragility?
(a) Timidity.
(b) Curiosity.
(c) Forthrightness.
(d) Vapidity.

11. What does Burke criticize about the patrons of proportion?
(a) That they view their own works and views as superior to nature.
(b) That they are not clear enough in defining proportionality.
(c) That they are disproportionate and ugly.
(d) That they have not expanded their architectural projects enough.

12. To what does a "clear" expression relate?
(a) To one's soul and one's intellect.
(b) To one's will and one's desires.
(c) To one's passions and one's feelings.
(d) To one's understanding and to reality.

13. Which example does Burke use to support his argument regarding the nature of darkness?
(a) A person who grew afraid of his own shadow.
(b) A blind boy who regains his sight.
(c) A solar eclipse that frightened townsfolk.
(d) A dim, murky forest fraught with danger.

14. What does Burke term "compounded abstract" words?
(a) Those words which represent complex ideas.
(b) Those words which indicate natural phenomena.
(c) Those words which determine scientific nomenclature.
(d) Those words which stand for literary ideas.

15. To what does Burke tie his own opinion of darkness and the sublime?
(a) Judgment.
(b) Self-preservation.
(c) Intellectualism.
(d) Desire.

Short Answer Questions

1. Why is darkness shocking, according to Burke?

2. How does Burke define "association?"

3. What body part's workings does Burke describe in detail?

4. What are the first examples Burke cites to demonstrate his argument about beauty and proportion?

5. What is the sole difference Burke identifies between the passions mentioned in question 7?

(see the answer keys)

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