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?
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 has a short attention span

Because the addressee dislikes people who study syntax and grammar

Because this person is too emotional for the addressee

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?
Free verse

Sonnet

Ballad meter

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

Life and death

Religion

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

“eyelids’ flutter”

“death i think is no parenthesis”

“feeling is first”
7 What is ironic about this poem?
Cummings uses syntax to write this poem.

We know, but the speaker does not, that this love is going to fail.

It is not actually about feeling.

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

Loose; resisting a narrative structure

Following a linear narrative
9 Which of the following is a personification?
"life's not a paragraph"

"i swear by all flowers"

"kisses are a better fate"

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

Pessimistic

Assertive

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

Intergalactic

Unspecified, abstract

Urban
12 Which of the following is not an example of synecdoche in this poem?
“my brain”

"Spring is in the world"

“my blood”

“your eyelids’”
13 "Spring" symbolize which of the following?
Fertility, vitality, and youth

Aging, senility, and vulnerability

Death, trauma, and pain

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

Nature

Ephemerality

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"?
What happens after death is a mystery.

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.
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?
Tulips & Chimneys

The Enormous Room

is 5

EIMI
19 In what year was this poem published?
1916

1926

1936

1946
20 Which of the following best describes the collection in which this poem was published?
Traditional and conforming

Experimental and unconventional

Violent and gory

Kitsch and cheesy
21 Which of the following is an example of mathematical language within the poem?
"i swear by all flowers"

"we are for each other"

"[...] 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 is repeated twice.

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

Alliteration

Synecdoche

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

Sarcasm

Metaphor

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 artificiality of linguistic constructs.

It may symbolize the simplicity of linguistic constructs.

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

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…