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.

You must be conscious of the consequences of your actions.

Both in love and in life, you must prioritize feeling over thinking.
2 What does "syntax" stand for in the poem?
Reason

Emotion

Love

Inefficiency
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 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?
Ballad meter

Blank verse

Free verse

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?
“eyelids’ flutter”

"laugh, leaning”

“feeling is first”

“death i think is no parenthesis”
7 What is ironic about this poem?
Cummings uses syntax to write this poem.

The speaker does not actually love the addressee.

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?
Loose; resisting a narrative structure

Heavily based on repetition

Following a linear narrative

Evocative of the structure of another poem
9 Which of the following is a personification?
“my blood approves"

"life's not a paragraph"

"kisses are a better fate"

"i swear by all flowers"
10 Which of the following does NOT accurately describe the tone of the speaker?
Affectionate

Pessimistic

Philosophical

Assertive
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?
"Spring is in the world"

“my brain”

“your eyelids’”

“my blood”
13 "Spring" symbolize which of the following?
Fertility, vitality, and youth

Death, trauma, and pain

War, violence, and discord

Aging, senility, and vulnerability
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"?
"Blood" can "spring" forth.

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

"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"?
What happens after death is a mystery.

Death is an inevitable part of the human experience.

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 aggressive.

She is more religious.

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

EIMI

The Enormous Room

is 5
19 In what year was this poem published?
1946

1926

1936

1916
20 Which of the following best describes the collection in which this poem was published?
Kitsch and cheesy

Violent and gory

Experimental and unconventional

Traditional and conforming
21 Which of the following is an example of mathematical language within the poem?
"we are for each other"

"wholly to be a fool"

"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 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?
Alliteration

Asyndeton

Personification

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

Sarcasm

Synecdoche

Metaphor
25 Which of the following INCORRECTLY describes the use of the word "paragraph" in this poem?
It may symbolize the simplicity of linguistic constructs.

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

It may symbolize the artificiality 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…