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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 body part's workings does Burke describe in detail?

2. How does this body part produce the sense of the sublime, according to Burke?

3. What is John Locke's theory concerning darkness?

4. What has Burke personally observed about human beauty?

5. What type of word are man, castle, horse, etc., as defined by Burke?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. According to Burke, why is the taste of sweetness pleasant, and how does he decide this?

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

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

5. 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?

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

7. How does Burke define proportion, and under which human faculty does it fall?

8. What example does Burke use to demonstrate that perfection is not the cause of beauty?

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

10. What is unique about the historical figure of Campanella, as related by Burke?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What is unique about the historical figure of Campanella, as related by Burke? To what effect does Burke employ the example of Campanella? How does Burke's relation of his own experiences reinforce this example? What is the significance of Campanella's story to our understanding of the connection between mind and body? Have you ever encountered this phenomenon yourself, and if so, does it seem to be true? What implications or significance (social, spiritual, or otherwise) do Campanella's abilities have?

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

Summarize Burke's definition of pain and pleasure. How do they exist relative to one another? How do they influence human passions? What state of being does one occupy when experiencing neither pain nor pleasure? How does Burke distinguish delight from pleasure, and how does he connect joy and grief? What examples does Burke use to support his definitions?

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