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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 recognizable figure does Burke term a "forced analogy?"
(a) A sketch of a man outstretched within a circle.
(b) A reproduction sculpture of a wounded gladiator.
(c) An ornate cathedral built in the Renaissance.
(d) A painting of a mysterious, smiling woman.

2. Burke writes that "Beauty in distress is the most _________ kind of beauty."
(a) Disgusting.
(b) Confusing.
(c) Pleasurable.
(d) Affecting.

3. Upon what does the power of poetry NOT depend, according to Burke?
(a) Tone.
(b) Imagery.
(c) Metaphor.
(d) Allusion.

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

5. How does Burke define the beautiful in feeling?
(a) That which is roughly textured.
(b) That which can be simultaneously seen and smelled.
(c) That which highly arouses the emotions.
(d) That which is pleasant to the touch.

Short Answer Questions

1. Which kinds of colors does Burke argue are essential to beauty?

2. What is one of the primary causes of words influencing the passions?

3. What size of objects does Burke consider "beautiful?"

4. What has Burke personally observed about human beauty?

5. To what does Burke tie his own opinion of darkness and the sublime?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does the body react physically to emotions of love, per Burke's observations?

2. What types of sounds, smells, and tastes can be considered beautiful, according to Burke?

3. What, to Burke, is the most affecting type of language in poetry and literature?

4. Why are small objects more suited to the beautiful and large objects more suitable to the sublime, according to Burke?

5. In his discussion of proportionality among human figures, what censure does Burke lay upon advocates proportion-as-beauty?

6. Why, according to Burke, are humans readily affected by the passions of others?

7. How does Burke define ugliness, and how does Burke relate ugliness to beauty?

8. How does Burke use women as examples to demonstrate some of the aspects of beauty?

9. What, according to Burke, is the primary strength of poetry?

10. What does Burke identify as the three effects of words?

(see the answer keys)

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