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.

Love is but an illusion.

You must be conscious of the consequences of your actions.

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 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?

Sonnet

Blank verse

Free verse

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

Religion

Life and death

Language

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.

It is not actually about feeling.

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

The speaker does not actually love the addressee.
8 Which of the following best describes the structure of this poem?

Evocative of the structure of another poem

Following a linear narrative

Loose; resisting a narrative structure

Heavily based on repetition
9 Which of the following is a personification?

“my blood approves"

"life's not a paragraph"

"i swear by all flowers"

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

Affectionate

Philosophical

Pessimistic

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

Intergalactic

Urban

Pastoral

Unspecified, abstract
12 Which of the following is not an example of synecdoche in this poem?

"Spring is in the world"

“your eyelids’”

“my brain”

“my blood”
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?

Ephemerality

Fertility

Nature

Artificiality
15 Which of the following best describes the word play between "Spring" and "blood"?

"Blood" can "spring" forth.

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

"Spring" is a "bloody" season.

Hot water "springs" are good for "blood" circulation.
16 What does the speaker mean when they say "death i think is no parenthesis"?

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.

Death is an inevitable part of the human experience.
17 How is the lady's attitude different from that of the speaker?

She is less optimistic.

She believes in logic and reason.

She is more religious.

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

EIMI

The Enormous Room

Tulips & Chimneys

is 5
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?

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?

"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 repeated twice.

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

Synecdoche

Personification

Alliteration

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

Metaphor

Alliteration

Sarcasm

Synecdoche
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.

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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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