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?

Reason

Inefficiency

Emotion

Love
3 Why is the person "who pays any attention to the syntax of things" unable to "wholly kiss" the addressee?

Because this person is too emotional for the addressee

Because this person has a short attention span

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?

Free verse

Ballad meter

Sonnet

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

Religion

Life and death

Language

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

“death i think is no parenthesis”

“eyelids’ flutter”

"laugh, leaning”

“feeling is first”
7 What is ironic about this poem?

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.

It is not actually about feeling.
8 Which of the following best describes the structure of this poem?

Loose; resisting a narrative structure

Evocative of the structure of another poem

Heavily based on repetition

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

“my blood approves"

"i swear by all flowers"

"kisses are a better fate"

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

Philosophical

Pessimistic

Affectionate

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

Pastoral

Urban

Intergalactic

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

“your eyelids’”

"Spring is in the world"

“my blood”

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

Aging, senility, and vulnerability

Fertility, vitality, and youth

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

Artificiality

Ephemerality

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

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

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

"Spring" is a "bloody" season.

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

Death is an inevitable part of the human experience.

What happens after death is a mystery.

Death is something that can be ignored.

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 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

The Enormous Room

EIMI

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

1916

1936

1946

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

Kitsch and cheesy

Traditional and conforming

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"

"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 repeated twice.

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

Asyndeton

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

Metaphor

Alliteration

Synecdoche

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

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

It is antithetical to the word "syntax" in an earlier stanza.

It may symbolize the simplicity of linguistic constructs.

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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