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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. How does Burke define "magnificence?"
(a) As all that delights the eye by shimmering and glittering.
(b) As that which requires magnification due to its miniscule size.
(c) As the power and might of a strong warrior or noble king.
(d) As a great profusion of things that are splendid or valuable in and of themselves.

2. How does Burke define solitude?
(a) As a necessary evil.
(b) As a positive pain.
(c) As a welcome release.
(d) As a pleasurable enjoyment.

3. Into which two classes does Burke group the passions of society?
(a) The liberal society and the conservative society.
(b) General society and the society of the sexes.
(c) The societies of the educated and of the ignorant.
(d) High- and low-society, based upon the class into which one is born.

4. To which other passions is the idea of power closely related, according to Burke?
(a) Love and desire.
(b) Joy and delight.
(c) Fear and terror.
(d) Curiosity and novelty.

5. Burke opines that buildings that are great only in dimension are:
(a) The epitome of sublimity in architecture.
(b) Too simple and common to be sublime.
(c) Only deceptively large.
(d) Paragons of human imagination.

Short Answer Questions

1. Why are the cries of animals sublime, according to Burke?

2. How does Burke define "grief?"

3. According to Burke, why is procreation pleasurable?

4. What examples does Burke use to argue that some sights are pleasurable to all people?

5. What general quality does Burke assert about "taste?"

Short Essay Questions

1. What, according to Burke, is sublime about religion?

2. What is Burke's idea of "artificial infinity?"

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

4. What is the significance of the senses to the faculty of taste, according to Burke?

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

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

7. Describe Burke's definition of the sublime.

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

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

10. What is the cause of a wrong taste, and what are examples of it?

(see the answer keys)

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