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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. According to the author, who carries out the "discourse of absence" historically?
(a) The Woman.
(b) The Man.
(c) The mother.
(d) The father.

2. In this section, how is the term "karma" defined?
(a) As causality, which the lover wishes to escape from.
(b) As suffering, which the lover hopes to inflict on the other.
(c) As nothingness, which the lover hopes to attain.
(d) As nirvana, which the lover hopes to attain.

3. Why is the lover cautious when the loved object complains of the lover's rival?
(a) The lover is too submissive to stand up to the other.
(b) The lover could end up in the rival's place some day.
(c) The lover does not want to be a gossip.
(d) The lover is afraid of revealing his friendship with the rival.

4. What message does the lover hope to send through his asceticism?
(a) He wants to display his askesis as something caused by the other so that person will yield.
(b) He wants to make his mother feel guilty.
(c) He wants to convince society that he is worthy of love.
(d) He wants to show off his learning to his friends.

5. "Connivance" describes a situation of connivance that occurs between which two people?
(a) The amorous subject and the object of love.
(b) The object of love and the lover's rival.
(c) The amorous subject and his mother.
(d) The amorous subject and his rival.

6. Which of the following terms is a definition of "atopos"?
(a) Stereotype.
(b) Untranslatable.
(c) Indolent.
(d) Unclassifiable.

7. In the section entitled "Waiting," which of the following processes is described?
(a) A growing anxiety and loss of all sense of proportion while waiting for the other.
(b) A growing fear of the death of the beloved during his absence.
(c) An increasing apathy regarding the other's absence.
(d) Making lists of the other's faults while waiting for him.

8. The section entitled "Catastrophe" refers to two systems of despair. What are they?
(a) Gentle despair (active resignation) and violent despair (total destruction).
(b) Physical despair and mental despair.
(c) Active despair and passive despair.
(d) Angry despair (rage) and hopeless despair (depression).

9. In "Events, Setbacks and Annoyances," which of the following describes the effect of "contingencies" on the amorous subject?
(a) The amorous subject is oblivious to random events.
(b) The amorous subject's happiness is destroyed by random events.
(c) The amorous subject's happiness is increased by random events.
(d) The amorous subject is ambivalent about random events.

10. What three things can shatter the ideal and protected Image of the lover according to the author?
(a) Association with the commonplace, former lovers, and desire for others.
(b) Unpaid bills, association with the mundane, and course language.
(c) Attachment to their parents and former lovers, and desire for others.
(d) The loss of their looks, their lack of interest in new things, and poor hygiene.

11. In "What is to be done?" what problem does the author present?
(a) Choosing between two alternatives: this, or that.
(b) Solving a difficult social crisis.
(c) Deciding when to leave the other.
(d) Finding a solution to a dispute.

12. In "The Tip of the Nose/Alteration," what does "the tip of the nose" refer to?
(a) The slightly decayed nose of a disinterred corpse.
(b) A photograph of the author's mother.
(c) A figure in a Flemish painting.
(d) The nose of a German poet.

13. At the beginning of the book, in the section entitled, "How this book is structured," what is the name that the author uses to describe the different sections of the book?
(a) Figures.
(b) Abstracts.
(c) References.
(d) Chapters.

14. In the same section, what does the lover mourn when the love object is lost?
(a) The loss of belief in true love.
(b) The loss of financial security.
(c) The loss of love and desire, not the loss of the other.
(d) The loss of someone to talk to.

15. Which of the following topics describes the theme of "The Absent One/Absence?"
(a) The role of absence in film narratives.
(b) The inner motivations for leaving a relationship.
(c) A process whereby the lover's absence is transformed into an abandonment.
(d) The lover's lack of concern for the absent love object.

Short Answer Questions

1. What does the lover seek to "read" on the other's body?

2. In Dark Glasses/To Hide, what paradox is revealed in the act of concealment?

3. In the section called "Talking," how does the lover's discourse change when the amorous subject speaks about love?

4. How does the lover feel about himself when confronted with the other's atopia?

5. In the section entitled, "I am engulfed, I succumb," the author discusses which of the following desires?

(see the answer keys)

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