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

Multiple Choice Questions

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

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

3. To what does Burke compare human listening methods?
(a) Fish darting through the water.
(b) Children tossing and turning in sleep.
(c) Birds flying away at sudden noises.
(d) Animals pricking up their ears.

4. What has Burke personally observed about human beauty?
(a) That beauty is only skin-deep.
(b) That both beautiful and ugly people might be considered proportionate.
(c) That proportionality does indeed coincide with beauty.
(d) That only a minority of people are not beautiful.

5. What is Locke's general theory of language, as related by Burke?
(a) Locke describes language as a cohesive system in which the meaning of words never varies from context to context.
(b) Locke argues that children are taught words before they are taught the actual meaning of words, which can confuse them.
(c) Locke illustrates the superficiality of language, arguing that it is a specious method of communication.
(d) Locke opines that language stems from the animalistic desire of our brains to overcome adversity.

6. How does Burke define "proportion?"
(a) It is the measure of relative quantity.
(b) It illustrates the properties of geometries.
(c) It refers to the amount of food a healthy person eats.
(d) It is an average of height, breadth, and width.

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

8. Why, according to Burke, is proportion not the cause of beauty in animals?
(a) Because beauty relies upon the relative length, width, and height of the object.
(b) Because our idea of proportion is so clear and obvious as to preclude the beautiful.
(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. To what is deformity opposed, according to Burke?
(a) To the common or complete form.
(b) To the ideal of beauty.
(c) To perfect proportionality.
(d) To the magnificence of the sublime.

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

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

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

13. How does descriptive poetry operate, according to Burke?
(a) Through verbosity.
(b) Through imagination.
(c) Through substitution.
(d) Through imitation.

14. How does Burke define "gradual variation?"
(a) As the slight deviation of regular parts.
(b) As the general decline in beauty due to age.
(c) As the rapid changes of an avid mind.
(d) As the sudden movement of line or angle.

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

Short Answer Questions

1. What causes hearing in humans, according to Burke?

2. Upon what does the power of poetry NOT depend, according to Burke?

3. What example does Burke use in his argument that perfection is not the cause of beauty?

4. How does Burke separate natural and artificial objects?

5. What recognizable figure does Burke term a "forced analogy?"

(see the answer keys)

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