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.

You must be conscious of the consequences of your actions.

Love is but an illusion.

Wisdom is the highest virtue.
2 What does "syntax" stand for in the poem?

Love

Reason

Inefficiency

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

Because the addressee dislikes people who study syntax and grammar

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

Sonnet

Free verse

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

Religion

Love

Life and death

Language
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?

Cummings uses syntax to write this poem.

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

The speaker does not actually love the addressee.

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

Following a linear narrative

Evocative of the structure of another poem

Heavily based on repetition

Loose; resisting a narrative structure
9 Which of the following is a personification?

"i swear by all flowers"

"life's not a paragraph"

“my blood approves"

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

Philosophical

Assertive

Affectionate

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

Pastoral

Unspecified, abstract

Intergalactic

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?

War, violence, and discord

Aging, senility, and vulnerability

Death, trauma, and pain

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

Fertility

Artificiality

Nature

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.

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

"Spring" is a "bloody" season.
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 not something we should keep in mind in everyday life.

Death is something that can be ignored.

What happens after death is a mystery.
17 How is the lady's attitude different from that of the speaker?

She is more aggressive.

She is more religious.

She is less optimistic.

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

1926

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

Violent and gory

Traditional and conforming

Kitsch and cheesy

Experimental and unconventional
21 Which of the following is an example of mathematical language within the poem?

"[...] is less than [...]"

"wholly to be a fool"

"we are for each other"

"i swear by all flowers"
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 is used in an alliteration.

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?

Alliteration

Personification

Asyndeton

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

Alliteration

Metaphor

Synecdoche

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

It may symbolize the artificiality of linguistic constructs.

It may symbolize the simplicity of linguistic constructs.

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

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

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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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