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.

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

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

Inefficiency

Reason

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

Because the addressee dislikes people who study syntax and grammar

Because this person has a short attention span

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?

Ballad meter

Free verse

Blank verse

Sonnet
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”

“feeling is first”

"laugh, leaning”

“eyelids’ flutter”
7 What is ironic about this poem?

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

Cummings uses syntax to write this poem.

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?

Evocative of the structure of another poem

Loose; resisting a narrative structure

Following a linear narrative

Heavily based on repetition
9 Which of the following is a personification?

"life's not a paragraph"

"i swear by all flowers"

“my blood approves"

"kisses are a better fate"
10 Which of the following does NOT accurately describe the tone of the speaker?

Philosophical

Assertive

Pessimistic

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

Urban

Pastoral

Unspecified, abstract

Intergalactic
12 Which of the following is not an example of synecdoche in this poem?

“my blood”

“your eyelids’”

"Spring is in the world"

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

Death, trauma, and pain

Aging, senility, and vulnerability

War, violence, and discord

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

Nature

Artificiality

Fertility

Ephemerality
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.

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 believes in logic and reason.

She is more religious.

She is more aggressive.

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

The Enormous Room

Tulips & Chimneys

EIMI

is 5
19 In what year was this poem published?

1946

1936

1926

1916
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?

"wholly to be a fool"

"i swear by all flowers"

"we are for each other"

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

It is evocative of the word "holy."

It is repeated twice.

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

Synecdoche

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

Metaphor

Synecdoche

Sarcasm

Alliteration
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.

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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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