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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.
Short Answer Questions
1. What does Burke assert about sensory observation?
2. What two main passions connect with this creative power of the mind?
3. How does Burke define sympathy?
4. What kinds of sounds does Burke say can be sublime?
5. Which two ideas does Burke often find confused with one another?
Short Essay Questions
1. Summarize Burke's definition of pain and pleasure.
2. What is the significance of power in Burke's Enquiry, and what is one example he gives of power?
3. According to Burke, why can grief be considered pleasurable?
4. What qualities of sound produce the sublime, according to Burke?
5. What significance do obscurity and clarity have to the sublime?
6. How does Burke describe sympathy?
7. What are some of the cautions or caveats Burke offers to his readers in the Second Preface?
8. What is astonishment, according to Burke, and why is it important?
9. What, according to Burke, is sublime about religion?
10. Why, according to Burke, are the principles of reason and taste the same in all humans?
Essay Topics
Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:
Essay Topic 1
Discuss the ways in which "A Philosophical Enquiry Into the Origin of Our Ideas of the Sublime and Beautiful" is a gendered text. Is the role of women in the text obvious or subtle, and in what ways? How does Burke's near universal usage of masculine or second person pronouns affect the way you read the text? How is Burke's use and inclusion of women reflective of the role and status of women in mid-18th century English society? What is your reaction to Burke's characterization of and use of women in the text? How can you apply what you know of feminist critical theory or gender theory to approach "A Philosophical Enquiry Into the Origin of Our Ideas of the Sublime and Beautiful"?
Essay Topic 2
What are the limitations of the use of first-person perspective? What are the advantages to it? Do you feel that Burke uses any strategies to combat the limitations of this perspective, and if so, what does he do? What specific language does he employ, and with what results? How do the two Prefaces employ first-person perspective? What tone does Burke adopt in them, and do you think his tone is at all a product of the written point of view? Can you categorize the Prefaces as ultimately self-serving, useful, argumentative, informative to the state of his mind, etc., or is doing so problematic in and of itself? How do these instances of first-person perspective affect your reaction to the text? For example, do you feel more like a real person is speaking to you, rather than like you're being lecture?
Essay Topic 3
Define obscurity and clearness, or clarity, as Burke uses them. What significance do obscurity and clearness have to the sublime? How does the imagination interact with obscurity and with clarity? Which passions does Burke associate with obscurity, and which with clarity? Define the aspects of dimensionality Burke uses (vastness, infinity, and magnitude). How do these relate to the sublime? What qualities of "magnificence" are sublime? Use examples like what Burke uses to support your points.
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This section contains 1,146 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) |
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