View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What does Burke warn his readers about in the Second Preface?
(a) His book may make them angry.
(b) His book will contain faults.
(c) His book may be construed as unpatriotic.
(d) His book will challenge their core values.

2. What is the same in all humans, according to Burke?
(a) The capacity for feeling.
(b) The general intelligence quotient.
(c) The curiosity and wonder for nature.
(d) The standards of reason and taste.

3. In what year was "A Philosophical Enquiry Into the Origin of Our Ideas of the Sublime and Beautiful" first published?
(a) 1794.
(b) 1801.
(c) 1773.
(d) 1757.

4. What, according to Burke, affects the passions and most incites admiration?
(a) That which is human made and manufactured.
(b) That with which we are closely acquainted.
(c) That which we know little or nothing about.
(d) That which can be explained in lay terms.

5. Why does Burke offer a second edition of "A Philosophical Enquiry Into the Origin of Our Ideas of the Sublime and Beautiful"?
(a) He wishes to directly challenge the criticism of the first edition.
(b) He wishes to change and contradict his own views.
(c) He realizes that he could make more money selling a second edition.
(d) He wishes to expand and further illustrate his theories.

Short Answer Questions

1. What, according to Burke, is the first and most simple emotion of the human mind?

2. What problem does Burke see with the contemporary notion of "taste?"

3. Which two ideas does Burke often find confused with one another?

4. How does Burke define "strength?"

5. When might the sublime be delightful?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Burke identify as the central tension between the imagination and the judgment?

2. What qualities of sound produce the sublime, according to Burke?

3. What are some of the cautions or caveats Burke offers to his readers in the Second Preface?

4. What kind of infinity exists in "pleasing objects," according to Burke, and what is an example he uses to support his claim?

5. How does Burke describe sympathy?

6. What motivated Burke to write "A Philosophical Enquiry Into the Origin of Our Ideas of the Sublime and Beautiful"?

7. What is the significance of power in Burke's Enquiry, and what is one example he gives of power?

8. What is the significance of the imagination, to Burke?

9. What is the main problem with creating prescribed definitions, especially of taste, according to Burke?

10. What is "magnificence," according to Burke?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,019 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample