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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. What does Burke note about youth, as related to taste?
(a) That innocence does not equal ignorance.
(b) That although judgments may not be sound, taste is excellent.
(c) That sensory pleasure is great while judgment is inaccurate.
(d) That youth is the province of true wisdom.

2. What does Burke mean by the word "Taste?"
(a) The sense of taste located on the tongue, which distinguish sweet, salty, bitter, and sour flavors.
(b) Those faculties of the mind which form judgments upon the work of the imagination and the elegant arts.
(c) The sense of distinction that the higher social classes have above the lower social classes.
(d) The notions of personal style that refined, elegant people display when in public.

3. What two aspects comprise Burke's "artificial infinity?"
(a) Strength and power.
(b) Terror and greatness.
(c) Succession and uniformity.
(d) Curiosity and desire.

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

5. What kinds of sounds does Burke say can be sublime?
(a) Excessively loud sounds.
(b) Bright, quick sounds.
(c) Soft, murmuring sounds.
(d) Melodious sounds.

Short Answer Questions

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

2. Why does Burke offer a second edition of "A Philosophical Enquiry Into the Origin of Our Ideas of the Sublime and Beautiful"?

3. What is this creative power of the mind incapable of producing?

4. Why, according to Burke, do we delight in the tragedies of others?

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

Short Essay Questions

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

2. Describe Burke's definition of the sublime.

3. What types of colors are productive of the sublime, and which colors are not, according to Burke?

4. Describe Burke's idea of beauty.

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

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

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

8. What does Burke argue about tastes that deviate from causes other than habit or use?

9. Describe the passions belonging to society, as Burke introduces them.

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

(see the answer keys)

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