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.

Love is but an illusion.

You must be conscious of the consequences of your actions.
2 What does "syntax" stand for in the poem?
Love

Emotion

Inefficiency

Reason
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 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?
Blank verse

Sonnet

Free verse

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

Life and death

Love

Language
6 Which of the following does NOT contain an example of alliteration or consonance?
"laugh, leaning”

“death i think is no parenthesis”

“feeling is first”

“eyelids’ flutter”
7 What is ironic about this poem?
The speaker does not actually love the addressee.

It is not actually about feeling.

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

Cummings uses syntax to write this poem.
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"

“my blood approves"

"i swear by all flowers"

"life's not a paragraph"
10 Which of the following does NOT accurately describe the tone of the speaker?
Pessimistic

Philosophical

Assertive

Affectionate
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?
"Spring is in the world"

“my blood”

“your eyelids’”

“my brain”
13 "Spring" symbolize which of the following?
Death, trauma, and pain

War, violence, and discord

Fertility, vitality, and youth

Aging, senility, and vulnerability
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"?
"Blood" can "spring" forth.

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

"Spring" is a "bloody" season.

The speaker is trying to be resilient like a "spring" after witnessing "bloodshed" and violence.
16 What does the speaker mean when they say "death i think is no parenthesis"?
Death is not something we should keep in mind in everyday life.

Death is an inevitable part of the human experience.

What happens after death is a mystery.

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 is more aggressive.

She believes in logic and reason.

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

EIMI

The Enormous Room

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

Kitsch and cheesy

Experimental and unconventional

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

"i swear by all flowers"

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

"wholly to be a fool"
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

Asyndeton

Synecdoche

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

Alliteration

Synecdoche

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

It may symbolize the simplicity of linguistic constructs.

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