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?
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 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?
Sonnet

Ballad meter

Blank verse

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

Love

Religion

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

“feeling is first”

“death i think is no parenthesis”

"laugh, leaning”
7 What is ironic about this poem?
We know, but the speaker does not, that this love is going to fail.

The speaker does not actually love the addressee.

Cummings uses syntax to write this poem.

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

Loose; resisting a narrative structure

Heavily based on repetition

Following a linear narrative
9 Which of the following is a personification?
"kisses are a better fate"

"life's not a paragraph"

"i swear by all flowers"

“my blood approves"
10 Which of the following does NOT accurately describe the tone of the speaker?
Assertive

Affectionate

Philosophical

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

Urban

Unspecified, abstract

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

“my blood”

“your eyelids’”

"Spring is in the world"
13 "Spring" symbolize which of the following?
Aging, senility, and vulnerability

War, violence, and discord

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?
Nature

Fertility

Artificiality

Ephemerality
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.

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 something that can be ignored.

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.
17 How is the lady's attitude different from that of the speaker?
She believes in logic and reason.

She is less optimistic.

She is more religious.

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

is 5

EIMI

The Enormous Room
19 In what year was this poem published?
1926

1916

1936

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

Experimental and unconventional

Kitsch and cheesy

Traditional and conforming
21 Which of the following is an example of mathematical language within the poem?
"wholly to be a fool"

"we are for each other"

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

"i swear by all flowers"
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 evocative of the word "holy."

It is used in an alliteration.

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?
Synecdoche

Personification

Asyndeton

Alliteration
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 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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