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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. How do use and habit affect pleasure?
(a) They control it and guide its force.
(b) They renew it by constant exposure.
(c) They deaden it through repetition.
(d) They enhance it by care and practice.

2. What, according to Burke, is the state of a man whose teeth are set and whose forehead is wrinkled?
(a) Utter delight.
(b) Terrible wrath.
(c) Great pain.
(d) Complete confusion.

3. According to Burke, who is most capable of beauty?
(a) Rustic peasants.
(b) The male sex.
(c) The female sex.
(d) Elegant aristocrats.

4. According to Burke, why is sweetness pleasing?
(a) Because of the regularity and smoothness of the form of sugar.
(b) Because sweetness produces much saliva in the mouth.
(c) Because the first milk of infancy is sweet, and accustoms us to the taste.
(d) Because sweetness is a rare, and thus satisfying, sensation.

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

6. Which kinds of colors does Burke argue are essential to beauty?
(a) Strong, glaring colors.
(b) Bold, vibrant colors.
(c) Dusky, opaque colors.
(d) Soft, clean, fair colors.

7. Which does Burke's definition of "grace" include?
(a) Painting and drawing.
(b) Speaking foreign languages.
(c) Posture and motion.
(d) Conversation and debate.

8. What type of poetry operates by imitation?
(a) Elegiac poetry.
(b) Lyric poetry.
(c) Epic poetry.
(d) Dramatic poetry.

9. What type of word are man, castle, horse, etc., as defined by Burke?
(a) Imagistic words.
(b) Compounded abstract words.
(c) Aggregate words.
(d) Simple abstract words.

10. What is the effect of opiates or liquors, according to Burke?
(a) They force the body to yield to the superior power of the mind.
(b) They harm both the mind and the body to a tragic degree.
(c) They strengthen the connection and clarity between mind and body.
(d) They suspend the passions by inciting a different reaction in the body.

11. What passage does Burke offer as an example of the effect of words?
(a) A satirical essay about religion.
(b) A travel account of Syria.
(c) A description of the Danube river.
(d) A monologue from a dramatic production.

12. Why is darkness shocking, according to Burke?
(a) Because the human brain cannot compensate for darkness.
(b) Because the eye and the body do not expect nor appreciate it.
(c) Because darkness is unnatural and unwelcome.
(d) Because darkness is inherently evil and the opponent of goodness.

13. How does Burke describe "delightful horror?"
(a) As an "impossible state of mind."
(b) As a "positively painful process."
(c) As the "most contradictory emotion."
(d) As "tranquility tinged with terror."

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

15. How does Burke separate natural and artificial objects?
(a) By separating the effects which they have on a person.
(b) By categorizing properties of nature and artifice in a long treatise.
(c) By asserting that the natural always prevails over the artificial.
(d) By claiming to distinguish nature and artifice as it pertains to humans.

Short Answer Questions

1. How does Burke define "proportion?"

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

3. Which of the following does Burke assert about beauty?

4. Which of the following passions show the same effects as pain?

5. What does NOT make certain objects or experiences affect us the way they do?

(see the answer keys)

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