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.

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.
2 What does "syntax" stand for in the poem?
Inefficiency

Emotion

Love

Reason
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 the addressee dislikes people who study syntax and grammar

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?
Ballad meter

Blank verse

Free verse

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

Religion

Love

Language
6 Which of the following does NOT contain an example of alliteration or consonance?
“eyelids’ flutter”

“death i think is no parenthesis”

"laugh, leaning”

“feeling is first”
7 What is ironic about this poem?
It is not actually about feeling.

Cummings uses syntax to write this poem.

The speaker does not actually love the addressee.

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?
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?
"kisses are a better fate"

"life's not a paragraph"

"i swear by all flowers"

“my blood approves"
10 Which of the following does NOT accurately describe the tone of the speaker?
Pessimistic

Assertive

Philosophical

Affectionate
11 Which of the following best describes the setting of the poem?
Intergalactic

Unspecified, abstract

Urban

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

Nature

Fertility

Artificiality
15 Which of the following best describes the word play between "Spring" and "blood"?
"Spring" is a "bloody" season.

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.
16 What does the speaker mean when they say "death i think is no parenthesis"?
Death is not something we should keep in mind in everyday life.

Death is an inevitable part of the human experience.

Death is something that can be ignored.

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 believes in logic and reason.

She is more aggressive.

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

EIMI

Tulips & Chimneys

is 5
19 In what year was this poem published?
1926

1916

1946

1936
20 Which of the following best describes the collection in which this poem was published?
Violent and gory

Experimental and unconventional

Traditional and conforming

Kitsch and cheesy
21 Which of the following is an example of mathematical language within the poem?
"[...] is less than [...]"

"i swear by all flowers"

"wholly to be a fool"

"we are for each other"
22 Which of the following INCORRECTLY describes the use of the word "wholly" in the poem?
It is evocative of the word "holy."

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

It is used in an alliteration.

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?
Alliteration

Synecdoche

Asyndeton

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

Sarcasm

Alliteration

Synecdoche
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.

since feeling is first Questions and Answers

The Question and Answer section for since feeling is first is a great resource to ask questions, find answers, and discuss the novel.

Ask Your Own Question

Study Guide for since feeling is first

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.

Read the Study Guide for since feeling is first…