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"?

You must be conscious of the consequences of your actions.

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

Wisdom is the highest virtue.

Love is but an illusion.
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 a kiss requires feeling, and this person prioritizes reason over feeling

Because this person is too emotional for the addressee

Because the addressee dislikes people who study syntax and grammar

Because this person has a short attention span
4 Which of the following best describes the form and meter of this poem?

Free verse

Blank verse

Ballad meter

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

Language

Religion

Life and death

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

“death i think is no parenthesis”

"laugh, leaning”

“feeling is first”

“eyelids’ flutter”
7 What is ironic about this poem?

The speaker does not actually love the addressee.

It is not actually about feeling.

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?

Heavily based on repetition

Loose; resisting a narrative structure

Following a linear narrative

Evocative of the structure of another poem
9 Which of the following is a personification?

"i swear by all flowers"

"life's not a paragraph"

“my blood approves"

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

Pessimistic

Affectionate

Philosophical

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

Unspecified, abstract

Intergalactic

Urban

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

“your eyelids’”

“my brain”

"Spring is in the world"

“my blood”
13 "Spring" symbolize which of the following?

Fertility, vitality, and youth

Aging, senility, and vulnerability

War, violence, and discord

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

Nature

Fertility

Artificiality

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

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

"Blood" can "spring" forth.

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

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

Death is an inevitable part of the human experience.

Death is something that can be ignored.

What happens after death is a mystery.

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 more aggressive.

She is less optimistic.

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

The Enormous Room

is 5

EIMI

Tulips & Chimneys
19 In what year was this poem published?

1946

1936

1916

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

Traditional and conforming

Kitsch and cheesy

Violent and gory

Experimental and unconventional
21 Which of the following is an example of mathematical language within the poem?

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

"we are for each other"

"i swear by all flowers"

"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 used in an alliteration.

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

Synecdoche

Alliteration

Personification

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

Metaphor

Synecdoche

Alliteration

Sarcasm
25 Which of the following INCORRECTLY describes the use of the word "paragraph" in this poem?

It may symbolize the simplicity of linguistic constructs.

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.

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