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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 painting of a mysterious, smiling woman.
(c) An ornate cathedral built in the Renaissance.
(d) A reproduction sculpture of a wounded gladiator.

2. To what is deformity opposed, according to Burke?
(a) To perfect proportionality.
(b) To the magnificence of the sublime.
(c) To the common or complete form.
(d) To the ideal of beauty.

3. Why is darkness shocking, according to Burke?
(a) Because darkness is inherently evil and the opponent of goodness.
(b) Because darkness is unnatural and unwelcome.
(c) Because the eye and the body do not expect nor appreciate it.
(d) Because the human brain cannot compensate for darkness.

4. How does descriptive poetry operate, according to Burke?
(a) Through verbosity.
(b) Through substitution.
(c) Through imagination.
(d) Through imitation.

5. What causes hearing in humans, according to Burke?
(a) Vibrations in the ear.
(b) Alterations in the ether.
(c) Pulsations caused by physical movement.
(d) Waves floating through the air.

Short Answer Questions

1. According to Burke, what is the mechanical reason darkness is terrible?

2. What caveat does Burke offer to his readers about "A Philosophical Enquiry Into the Origin of Our Ideas of the Sublime and Beautiful"?

3. What has Burke personally observed about human beauty?

4. What example does Burke cite in his discussion of how people may convey ideas of things which they do not know?

5. How does Burke define "association?"

Short Essay Questions

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

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

3. What does Burke mean by "fitness," and why is fitness not, according to him, the cause of beauty?

4. What is beautiful in feeling, according to Burke?

5. Briefly summarize the three classes of words that Burke identifies.

6. Why, according to Burke, is proportion not the cause of beauty in vegetation and animals?

7. What primary example does Burke cite in his argument that words may be used without being connected to images, and what is the significance of this example?

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

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

10. Paraphrase Burke's definition of beauty and the distinction he makes between love and lust or desire.

(see the answer keys)

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