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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. Why is grief a part of pleasure, according to Burke?
2. How do all emotions and passions affect the human mind?
3. What is this creative power of the mind incapable of producing?
4. What does Burke say is the primary passion ignited by the sublime?
5. What term does Burke use to reflect uncertainty relative to the sublime?
Short Essay Questions
1. What is the significance of the imagination, to Burke?
2. What, according to Burke, is sublime about religion?
3. What does Burke identify as the central tension between the imagination and the judgment?
4. Why, according to Burke, are the principles of reason and taste the same in all humans?
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 is "magnificence," according to Burke?
7. What causes Burke to offer a second edition of "A Philosophical Enquiry Into the Origin of Our Ideas of the Sublime and Beautiful"?
8. What motivated Burke to write "A Philosophical Enquiry Into the Origin of Our Ideas of the Sublime and Beautiful"?
9. What is the main problem with creating prescribed definitions, especially of taste, according to Burke?
10. What is the significance of the senses to the faculty of taste, according to Burke?
Essay Topics
Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:
Essay Topic 1
How does Burke define proportion, and under which human faculty does it fall? Why, according to Burke, is proportion not the cause of beauty in vegetation and animals? What examples does Burke use to prove this point? In his discussion of proportionality among human figures, what censure does Burke lay upon advocates of proportion-as-beauty? What influence does the theme of nature vs. artifice have upon Burke's perceptions of proportion and beauty?
Essay Topic 2
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.?
Essay Topic 3
In the Introduction on Taste, Burke qualifies his purpose of defining the origins of the sublime and the beautiful. What, according to Burke, is the main problem with creating prescribed definitions, especially taste? What do definitions essentially do, and in what ways can they limit rather than enlighten? Considering Burke's mission regarding and methods used in the "A Philosophical Enquiry Into the Origin of Our Ideas of the Sublime and Beautiful," do you find anything ambiguous or undermining about Burke's reservations on definitions? Do you find inconsistencies here that make you think differently about reading "A Philosophical Enquiry Into the Origin of Our Ideas of the Sublime and Beautiful"?
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This section contains 1,010 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) |
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