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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Which of the following is one of the general privations Burke lists?
(a) Darkness.
(b) Insanity.
(c) Hunger.
(d) Sleep.

2. How does Burke define "grief?"
(a) As that feeling when an object is so lost that one can never enjoy it again.
(b) As the most desirable of the sensibilities because it is strong.
(c) As the natural state of relationships between all people.
(d) As one of many types of positive pain.

3. How does Burke define "strength?"
(a) As "careful concentration."
(b) As "earned glory."
(c) As "natural power."
(d) As "wild freedom."

4. What large part of text has Burke added between the First and Second editions?
(a) An Afterword on Terror.
(b) An Introduction on Taste.
(c) A Publisher's Foreword.
(d) An Autobiographical Epilogue.

5. What does Burke say is the primary passion ignited by the sublime?
(a) Astonishment.
(b) Confusion.
(c) Joy.
(d) Anger.

Short Answer Questions

1. How do smells and tastes become sublime most effectively?

2. What colors appropriately represent the sublime?

3. What will be Burke's focus in "A Philosophical Enquiry Into the Origin of Our Ideas of the Sublime and Beautiful"?

4. In Burke's opinion, at what depiction do painters most notably fail?

5. Into which two classes does Burke group the passions of society?

Short Essay Questions

1. Describe the types of dimensional greatness Burke notes are part of the sublime.

2. What is the difference between taste and knowledge, according to Burke?

3. Summarize Burke's section about the role of smells and tastes relating to the sublime.

4. Describe Burke's idea of beauty.

5. Describe the main difference between light and dark relative to the sublime.

6. What significance do obscurity and clarity have to the sublime?

7. Why, according to Burke, are the principles of reason and taste the same in all humans?

8. What is astonishment, according to Burke, and why is it important?

9. Describe Burke's definition of the sublime.

10. According to Burke, why can grief be considered pleasurable?

(see the answer keys)

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