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?
Inefficiency

Love

Reason

Emotion
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 the addressee dislikes people who study syntax and grammar

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

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

Free verse

Ballad meter

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

Language

Life and death

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

“death i think is no parenthesis”

“eyelids’ flutter”

"laugh, leaning”
7 What is ironic about this poem?
The speaker does not actually love the addressee.

Cummings uses syntax to write this poem.

It is not actually about feeling.

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

Following a linear narrative

Loose; resisting a narrative structure
9 Which of the following is a personification?
"life's not a paragraph"

"kisses are a better fate"

“my blood approves"

"i swear by all flowers"
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?
Intergalactic

Unspecified, abstract

Urban

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

“my blood”

"Spring is in the world"

“my brain”
13 "Spring" symbolize which of the following?
Death, trauma, and pain

War, violence, and discord

Aging, senility, and vulnerability

Fertility, vitality, and youth
14 Which of the following is NOT a symbolic meaning that "flowers" may have in this poem?
Fertility

Ephemerality

Nature

Artificiality
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 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 less optimistic.

She is more aggressive.

She is more religious.

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?
1936

1916

1946

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

Kitsch and cheesy

Traditional and conforming

Experimental and unconventional
21 Which of the following is an example of mathematical language within the poem?
"wholly to be a fool"

"we are for each other"

"i swear by all flowers"

"[...] is less than [...]"
22 Which of the following INCORRECTLY describes the use of the word "wholly" in the poem?
It is repeated twice.

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

Alliteration

Personification

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

Synecdoche

Metaphor

Sarcasm
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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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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