since feeling is first Quizzes

since feeling is first Quiz

1 Which of the following best summarizes the main idea of "since feeling is first"?
Wisdom is the highest virtue.

Love is but an illusion.

Both in love and in life, you must prioritize feeling over thinking.

You must be conscious of the consequences of your actions.
2 What does "syntax" stand for in the poem?
Emotion

Reason

Love

Inefficiency
3 Why is the person "who pays any attention to the syntax of things" unable to "wholly kiss" the addressee?
Because the addressee dislikes people who study syntax and grammar

Because this person is too emotional for the addressee

Because this person has a short attention span

Because a kiss requires feeling, and this person prioritizes reason over feeling
4 Which of the following best describes the form and meter of this poem?
Sonnet

Free verse

Blank verse

Ballad meter
5 Which of the following is not a major theme of this poem?
Life and death

Language

Religion

Love
6 Which of the following does NOT contain an example of alliteration or consonance?
“feeling is first”

“eyelids’ flutter”

“death i think is no parenthesis”

"laugh, leaning”
7 What is ironic about this poem?
It is not actually about feeling.

The speaker does not actually love the addressee.

We know, but the speaker does not, that this love is going to fail.

Cummings uses syntax to write this poem.
8 Which of the following best describes the structure of this poem?
Loose; resisting a narrative structure

Evocative of the structure of another poem

Following a linear narrative

Heavily based on repetition
9 Which of the following is a personification?
"i swear by all flowers"

“my blood approves"

"life's not a paragraph"

"kisses are a better fate"
10 Which of the following does NOT accurately describe the tone of the speaker?
Philosophical

Affectionate

Assertive

Pessimistic
11 Which of the following best describes the setting of the poem?
Urban

Intergalactic

Pastoral

Unspecified, abstract
12 Which of the following is not an example of synecdoche in this poem?
“your eyelids’”

“my brain”

“my blood”

"Spring is in the world"
13 "Spring" symbolize which of the following?
Fertility, vitality, and youth

War, violence, and discord

Death, trauma, and pain

Aging, senility, and vulnerability
14 Which of the following is NOT a symbolic meaning that "flowers" may have in this poem?
Nature

Artificiality

Ephemerality

Fertility
15 Which of the following best describes the word play between "Spring" and "blood"?
Hot water "springs" are good for "blood" circulation.

"Blood" can "spring" forth.

The speaker is trying to be resilient like a "spring" after witnessing "bloodshed" and violence.

"Spring" is a "bloody" season.
16 What does the speaker mean when they say "death i think is no parenthesis"?
What happens after death is a mystery.

Death is an inevitable part of the human experience.

Death is something that can be ignored.

Death is not something we should keep in mind in everyday life.
17 How is the lady's attitude different from that of the speaker?
She is more religious.

She is less optimistic.

She believes in logic and reason.

She is more aggressive.
18 "since feeling is first" was published in which of the following books?
Tulips & Chimneys

is 5

The Enormous Room

EIMI
19 In what year was this poem published?
1916

1936

1946

1926
20 Which of the following best describes the collection in which this poem was published?
Traditional and conforming

Experimental and unconventional

Kitsch and cheesy

Violent and gory
21 Which of the following is an example of mathematical language within the poem?
"we are for each other"

"i swear by all flowers"

"[...] is less than [...]"

"wholly to be a fool"
22 Which of the following INCORRECTLY describes the use of the word "wholly" in the poem?
It is repeated twice.

It evokes a sense of holiness and sacredness in addition to perfection.

It is evocative of the word "holy."

It is used in an alliteration.
23 "the best gesture of my brain is less than / your eyelids’ flutter" is an example of which of the following?
Asyndeton

Personification

Synecdoche

Alliteration
24 "laugh, leaning back in my arms / for life’s not a paragraph" does NOT contain which of the following?
Sarcasm

Synecdoche

Metaphor

Alliteration
25 Which of the following INCORRECTLY describes the use of the word "paragraph" in this poem?
It is antithetical to the word "syntax" in an earlier stanza.

It is parallel to the word "parenthesis" in the subsequent line.

It may symbolize the artificiality of linguistic constructs.

It may symbolize the simplicity of linguistic constructs.

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