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"?

Love is but an illusion.

Wisdom is the highest virtue.

You must be conscious of the consequences of your actions.

Both in love and in life, you must prioritize feeling over thinking.
2 What does "syntax" stand for in the poem?

Emotion

Inefficiency

Reason

Love
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 a kiss requires feeling, and this person prioritizes reason over feeling

Because this person has a short attention span

Because this person is too emotional for the addressee
4 Which of the following best describes the form and meter of this poem?

Free verse

Blank verse

Sonnet

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

Life and death

Love

Language

Religion
6 Which of the following does NOT contain an example of alliteration or consonance?

“eyelids’ flutter”

“feeling is first”

"laugh, leaning”

“death i think is no parenthesis”
7 What is ironic about this poem?

The speaker does not actually love the addressee.

It is not actually about feeling.

Cummings uses syntax to write this poem.

We know, but the speaker does not, that this love is going to fail.
8 Which of the following best describes the structure of this poem?

Heavily based on repetition

Evocative of the structure of another poem

Loose; resisting a narrative structure

Following a linear narrative
9 Which of the following is a personification?

"life's not a paragraph"

“my blood approves"

"i swear by all flowers"

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

Assertive

Affectionate

Philosophical

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

Unspecified, abstract

Urban

Intergalactic

Pastoral
12 Which of the following is not an example of synecdoche in this poem?

“my brain”

“my blood”

“your eyelids’”

"Spring is in the world"
13 "Spring" symbolize which of the following?

War, violence, and discord

Aging, senility, and vulnerability

Fertility, vitality, and youth

Death, trauma, and pain
14 Which of the following is NOT a symbolic meaning that "flowers" may have in this poem?

Ephemerality

Artificiality

Fertility

Nature
15 Which of the following best describes the word play between "Spring" and "blood"?

"Spring" is a "bloody" season.

Hot water "springs" are good for "blood" circulation.

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

"Blood" can "spring" forth.
16 What does the speaker mean when they say "death i think is no parenthesis"?

What happens after death is a mystery.

Death is not something we should keep in mind in everyday life.

Death is something that can be ignored.

Death is an inevitable part of the human experience.
17 How is the lady's attitude different from that of the speaker?

She is less optimistic.

She is more religious.

She is more aggressive.

She believes in logic and reason.
18 "since feeling is first" was published in which of the following books?

is 5

Tulips & Chimneys

EIMI

The Enormous Room
19 In what year was this poem published?

1936

1946

1916

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

Kitsch and cheesy

Traditional and conforming

Experimental and unconventional

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

It is used in an alliteration.

It is evocative of the word "holy."

It is repeated twice.
23 "the best gesture of my brain is less than / your eyelids’ flutter" is an example of which of the following?

Personification

Alliteration

Synecdoche

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

Alliteration

Synecdoche

Sarcasm

Metaphor
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 may symbolize the simplicity of linguistic constructs.

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

It may symbolize the artificiality of linguistic constructs.

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since feeling is first study guide contains a biography of E. E. Cummings, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis.

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