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

Love is but an illusion.

Wisdom is the highest virtue.

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

Reason

Inefficiency

Love
3 Why is the person "who pays any attention to the syntax of things" unable to "wholly kiss" the addressee?
Because this person has a short attention span

Because this person is too emotional for the addressee

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

Because the addressee dislikes people who study syntax and grammar
4 Which of the following best describes the form and meter of this poem?
Blank verse

Ballad meter

Free verse

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

Love

Life and death

Language
6 Which of the following does NOT contain an example of alliteration or consonance?
"laugh, leaning”

“feeling is first”

“eyelids’ flutter”

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

The speaker does not actually love the addressee.
8 Which of the following best describes the structure of this poem?
Heavily based on repetition

Evocative of the structure of another poem

Following a linear narrative

Loose; resisting a narrative structure
9 Which of the following is a personification?
“my blood approves"

"kisses are a better fate"

"i swear by all flowers"

"life's not a paragraph"
10 Which of the following does NOT accurately describe the tone of the speaker?
Pessimistic

Affectionate

Assertive

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

Pastoral

Intergalactic

Unspecified, abstract
12 Which of the following is not an example of synecdoche in this poem?
"Spring is in the world"

“my brain”

“your eyelids’”

“my blood”
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?
Artificiality

Nature

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.

"Spring" is a "bloody" season.

The speaker is trying to be resilient like a "spring" after witnessing "bloodshed" and violence.
16 What does the speaker mean when they say "death i think is no parenthesis"?
Death is something that can be ignored.

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

Death is an inevitable part of the human experience.

What happens after death is a mystery.
17 How is the lady's attitude different from that of the speaker?
She is more religious.

She is more aggressive.

She believes in logic and reason.

She is less optimistic.
18 "since feeling is first" was published in which of the following books?
The Enormous Room

EIMI

is 5

Tulips & Chimneys
19 In what year was this poem published?
1916

1926

1946

1936
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?
"we are for each other"

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

"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 used in an alliteration.

It is evocative of the word "holy."

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

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

Synecdoche

Asyndeton

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

Alliteration

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 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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