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.

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

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 this person has a short attention span

Because the addressee dislikes people who study syntax and grammar

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?
Free verse

Blank verse

Sonnet

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

Love

Language

Life and death
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?
Loose; resisting a narrative structure

Following a linear narrative

Heavily based on repetition

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

"i swear by all flowers"

"life's not a paragraph"

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

Pessimistic

Assertive

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

Urban

Pastoral

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

"Spring is in the world"

“my brain”

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

War, violence, and discord

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

Artificiality

Ephemerality

Fertility
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.

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

"Blood" can "spring" forth.
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 not something we should keep in mind in everyday life.

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 believes in logic and reason.

She is less optimistic.

She is more aggressive.
18 "since feeling is first" was published in which of the following books?
The Enormous Room

Tulips & Chimneys

is 5

EIMI
19 In what year was this poem published?
1916

1946

1936

1926
20 Which of the following best describes the collection in which this poem was published?
Kitsch and cheesy

Experimental and unconventional

Violent and gory

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

"wholly to be a fool"

"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 used in an alliteration.

It evokes a sense of holiness and sacredness in addition to perfection.

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

Personification

Synecdoche

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

Sarcasm

Synecdoche

Alliteration
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 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.

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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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