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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What is the "ordeal" described in the section called Fade-out.
(a) The loved being's physical beauty begins to fade.
(b) The loved being's mother dies.
(c) The lover's favorite jeans fade.
(d) For no apparent reason the loved being withdraws from all contact.

2. In "I am odious"/Monstrous, what does the lover's discourse do to the other?
(a) It stifles him, imposing silence.
(b) It drives him to suicide.
(c) It causes him to reply in kind.
(d) It irritates him.

3. What does the author note about crying in the modern era?
(a) Everyone cries too easily.
(b) It is no longer acceptable for men to cry, especially in public.
(c) It is seen as unhealthy to cry.
(d) Crying does not tell more than words.

4. What observation is made about the amorous subject in the section In Praise of Tears/Crying?
(a) He represses his tears.
(b) He is emotionally immature.
(c) He dislikes it when the other cries.
(d) He has a propensity for tears.

5. To what does the "ghost ship," in the section entitled The Ghost Ship/Errantry refer?
(a) The lover becomes a ghost of his former self.
(b) The errant lover wanders from love to love, believing in the quest for fulfillment.
(c) The lover is haunted by terrible memories.
(d) The lover dreams of sailing the world with the object of desire.

Short Answer Questions

1. Which one of the following authors does Barthes cite in this section on the demonic life of a lover?

2. What topic does the figure I Love You discuss?

3. In Love's Obscenity/Obscene, what gets characterized as obscene in contemporary society?

4. Which relationship dynamic does the section of the text entitled "Domnei" or "dependency" describe?

5. Why is the lover attached to the object?

Short Essay Questions

1. List some of the scenarios described by the narrator to illustrate the sense of disreality in The World Thunderstruck/Disreality.

2. Describe the scenario in At Fault/Faults between the lover and the loved one at the train station.

3. Describe the relation between the informer, the lover, and the loved being in The Informer.

4. Briefly state what Werther writes in his letter to Charlotte and what it signifies in The Love Letter/Letter.

5. Briefly describe the process of induction in the figure "Show me whom to desire"/Induction.

6. Exuberance/Expenditure: Discuss the contrast the author makes between the characters Werther and Albert.

7. In Domnei/Dependency, what does the lover mean when he says: "I am twice subject?"

8. How does the section Fade-Out connect the loved beings withdrawal with the Mother?

9. In Inexpressible Love/To Write, what does the narrator suggest when he says "I cannot write myself"?

10. The Unknowable has to do with the lover's ability, or lack thereof, to know the other: what conclusion does the lover come to in this section?

(see the answer keys)

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