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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Which of the following passions show the same effects as pain?
(a) Joy and delight.
(b) Depression and grief.
(c) Lust and desire.
(d) Fear and terror.

2. What size of objects does Burke consider "beautiful?"
(a) Moderate and common.
(b) Small or diminutive.
(c) Proportionate to the accepted standard.
(d) Large and imposing.

3. What does Burke envision would be the result of fitness trumping beauty in the human species?
(a) All people would be healthy, regardless of their looks.
(b) Men would be considered more beautiful than women.
(c) The general intelligence quotient would rise dramatically.
(d) Individuals would find it difficult to get married and begin families.

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

5. What are the first examples Burke cites to demonstrate his argument about beauty and proportion?
(a) Several kinds of animals.
(b) Certain literary texts.
(c) Various types of flowers.
(d) People he knows.

6. What has Burke observed in himself regarding the passions and the body, in Section IV?
(a) That he is particularly susceptible to the physical effects of a refined sensibility.
(b) That he relates well to others who are in the same frame of mind as he.
(c) That he found his mind in a certain state when he adopts a certain facial expression.
(d) That he has never been inclined to allow his emotions to influence his actions.

7. How should the eye move, in order to qualify as beautiful, according to Burke?
(a) Suddenly and jerkily.
(b) Slowly and languidly.
(c) Upward and to the right.
(d) Rapidly and avidly.

8. Why, according to Burke, is proportion not the cause of beauty in animals?
(a) Because our idea of proportion is so clear and obvious as to preclude the beautiful.
(b) Because beauty relies upon the relative length, width, and height of the object.
(c) Because all species of animals have different proportions, yet we as a society deem them beautiful.
(d) Because proportion and geometry can only be discussed in reference to architecture.

9. What examples does Burke use to illustrate authority vs. affection?
(a) Dogs and cats.
(b) Statesmen and artists.
(c) Fathers and mothers.
(d) The rich and the poor.

10. What is one of the primary causes of words influencing the passions?
(a) Our reliance on judgment and will to shape our passions.
(b) Our sympathizing with and identifying with the passions of others.
(c) Our skepticism of and disdain for the emotional state of others.
(d) Our forceful imaginations' shaping of our emotions and desires.

11. What example does Burke use in his argument that perfection is not the cause of beauty?
(a) The industrious bustle of a market town or busy port can be called beautiful.
(b) Women whose imperfections and weaknesses make them beautiful.
(c) Flowers whose wayward stalks or blooms are expressions of beauty.
(d) A scenic mountain view that, though broken by heavy clouds, is beautiful.

12. Which two effects are often combined and alternated under the passions mentioned in question 7?
(a) Strength and weakness.
(b) Loathing and lust.
(c) Desire and frigidity.
(d) Contentment and consternation.

13. What example does Burke cite in his discussion of how people may convey ideas of things which they do not know?
(a) A blind poet.
(b) A crippled politician.
(c) A sickly child.
(d) A deaf musician.

14. How, according to Burke, can we be affected by things we as individuals never experienced?
(a) By writing a fictional account of our imagined experience.
(b) By viewing a dramatic production about the experience.
(c) By deeply researching the subject and circumstances of the experience.
(d) By understanding the words associated with the experience.

15. 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 different cultural concepts of the beautiful in countries other than England.
(c) The various manifestations of the sublime and the beautiful in early-modern England.
(d) The connections between the thoughts in the mind and emotions produced in the body.

Short Answer Questions

1. Burke writes that "Beauty in distress is the most _________ kind of beauty."

2. To what does a "clear" expression relate?

3. How does Burke define the beautiful in feeling?

4. How does Burke define "gradual variation?"

5. What type of word are man, castle, horse, etc., as defined by Burke?

(see the answer keys)

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