View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What is Locke's general theory of language, as related by Burke?

2. Which kinds of colors does Burke argue are essential to beauty?

3. What sense does Burke use to illustrate the artificial infinite?

4. Which is one of the examples Burke cites to demonstrate the sublime in poetry?

5. To what is deformity opposed, according to Burke?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

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

4. How does Burke define deformity?

5. Summarize the difference between Locke's idea of the nature of darkness and Burke's idea of the nature of darkness.

6. What is the "real" cause of beauty, according to Burke?

7. According to Burke, how does the human eye work?

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

9. What two examples does Burke use to illustrate the sublimity of succession in visual objects? Upon which principles does Burke assert these two examples operate?

10. Why are small objects more suited to the beautiful and large objects more suitable to the sublime, according to Burke?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Define the three classes of words that Burke identifies, and summarize his reasons for classifying language in this manner. Give examples of all three classes of words, and explain why your examples are appropriate. How does Burke differentiate between the three classes of words? What does Burke accomplish by categorizing language? What three primary effects do words have upon a listener or a reader, and how are these effects manifested? How does Burke explain that words may have an effect without raising images in the listener or reader's mind. How do words not connected to concrete or sensible things affect the mind? Which categories of words does Burke attach to certain effects? What kinds of words are the strongest and have the greatest effects upon the listener or reader?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss Burke's attempts to prove a mind-body connection in Part IV. What does Burke acknowledge to be the limitations of this study? How are specific states of mind manifested by the body's reactions? How does Burke define "association?" How does association, as well as natural causes, affect the mind? What methods does Burke employ to discover the connection between mind and body? Does Burke use anecdotal examples, observational evidence or another kind of proof? How does he describe or define the basic cause of emotions being physically manifested in the body? Does the pathway between mind and body seem to run both ways, or only one way, according to Burke's arguments?

Essay Topic 3

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?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,281 words (approx. 5 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample