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.

Wisdom is the highest virtue.

You must be conscious of the consequences of your actions.

Love is but an illusion.
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 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?
Sonnet

Blank verse

Free verse

Ballad meter
5 Which of the following is not a major theme of this poem?
Language

Love

Life and death

Religion
6 Which of the following does NOT contain an example of alliteration or consonance?
“eyelids’ flutter”

“feeling is first”

"laugh, leaning”

“death i think is no parenthesis”
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.

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

Loose; resisting a narrative structure

Heavily based on repetition
9 Which of the following is a personification?
"life's not a paragraph"

“my blood approves"

"kisses are a better fate"

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

Assertive

Philosophical

Affectionate
11 Which of the following best describes the setting of the poem?
Unspecified, abstract

Pastoral

Urban

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

“my brain”

"Spring is in the world"

“your eyelids’”
13 "Spring" symbolize which of the following?
War, violence, and discord

Fertility, vitality, and youth

Death, trauma, and pain

Aging, senility, and vulnerability
14 Which of the following is NOT a symbolic meaning that "flowers" may have in this poem?
Nature

Ephemerality

Fertility

Artificiality
15 Which of the following best describes the word play between "Spring" and "blood"?
The speaker is trying to be resilient like a "spring" after witnessing "bloodshed" and violence.

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

"Blood" can "spring" forth.

"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 less optimistic.

She is more aggressive.

She believes in logic and reason.

She is more religious.
18 "since feeling is first" was published in which of the following books?
EIMI

The Enormous Room

is 5

Tulips & Chimneys
19 In what year was this poem published?
1936

1926

1916

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

Violent and gory

Experimental and unconventional

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

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

"wholly to be a fool"

"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 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?
Alliteration

Synecdoche

Personification

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

It may symbolize the simplicity of linguistic constructs.

It may symbolize the artificiality of linguistic constructs.

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

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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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