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

2. What is the main manifestation of infinity Burke mentions?

3. According to Burke, what will the result be of the long, close study of an object?

4. What natural powers in man does Burke say relate to external objects?

5. What does Burke say is the primary passion ignited by the sublime?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. Why, according to Burke, are the principles of reason and taste the same in all humans?

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

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

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

6. What is astonishment, according to Burke, and why is it important?

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

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

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

10. What causes Burke to offer a second edition of "A Philosophical Enquiry Into the Origin of Our Ideas of the Sublime and Beautiful"?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

How does Burke define and categorize power? What is the significance of power to the sublime? What is power's relation to pain and pleasure? How does Burke relate danger to power? What are some of the examples Burke uses to represent power, and do you think they are accurate examples?

Essay Topic 2

Describe the faculty of "taste," as Burke depicts it, what are the three human faculties that affect taste? How does Burke consider the general human capacity about taste? What "agreements" does Burke assert are naturally part of taste? What does Burke argue about tastes that deviate from causes other than habit or use? Briefly describe the significance of human judgment to the faculty of taste. What is the cause of a wrong taste, and what are some examples of it? What does Burke identify as the central tension between the imagination and the judgment? How can one improve one's taste? What is the significance of pleasure to taste, and the relationship between pleasure and judgment?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss Burke's assertion that words may offer a greater interaction with the sublime or the beautiful than an experience with a sublime or beautiful object. Where, when, and how do we gain our general understanding of words and ideas, and how do we learn to become affected by them? What, according to Burke, is the primary strength of poetry? What role do human passions have in poetry? What, to Burke, is the most affecting type of language in poetry and literature? Why, according to Burke, are humans readily affected by the passions of others? How does descriptive poetry operate, according to Burke? How is this different from the operation of dramatic poetry? What are the "weaknesses" of words that Burke mentions on page 160? On the other hand, what are the great strengths of words? For instance, are words versatile, flexible, strong, etc.?

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