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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. In The Love Letter, what single piece of information is presented with variation?

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

3. Which famous composer does the author quote in the section on crying?

4. What is the dual nature of the figure of Gradiva?

5. Which of the following scenarios is described in No Answer/Silence?

Short Essay Questions

1. In Love's Languor/Languor, how is the Satyr contrasted with languor?

2. What kind of scenes does the lover image in Ideas of Solution/Outcomes?

3. Describe the type of jealousy displayed by Werther in the figure Jealousy.

4. Describe the lover's process of identification, as seen in the character Werther, in the section entitled Identifications.

5. "Looking embarrassed"/Embarrassment: Describe the scene of embarrassment from Werther cited in this section.

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

7. In Images, what is the lover's relationship to visual images he sees?

8. In The Dedication, how does the act of giving follow "the family model"?

9. What object does the lover compare himself to in This can't go on/Unbearable?

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

"I love you" is a peculiar phrase because, as the author states in I-Love-You (pg. 147), it is the metaphor of nothing else: it only has meaning at the moment it is uttered. Analyze the author's argument in this section.

- How does he describe the utterance in linguistic terms, i.e. how does it fit into language?

- What are the various responses to this utterance, both acceptable and unacceptable to the lover's ears?

- How is I-love-you an "active force," and against what?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss the idea of the figure that Roland Barthes outlines in the beginning of the book.

- What is a figure, according to his definition?

- Why did he choose this structure for the text?

- How do figures function, generally, and in the context of the lover's discourse?

Essay Topic 3

In Induction (pg. 136), how does the author describe the process whereby we come to love another?

- Define the term "induction."

- How does induction work in the novel Werther?

- Describe the process of induction in culture: from where do we receive images of what is desirable?

- Can you conclude from this section that love is original?

(see the answer keys)

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