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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. When does Freud say we are most susceptible to suffering?

2. What source of energy does Freud say man uses up by investing in civilization?

3. What does Freud say this notion is in conflict with?

4. Where does Freud say the religious feeling comes from?

5. What does Freud say about the adult ego?

Short Essay Questions

1. According to Freud, what is the feeling with which his friend resists his arguments about religion?

2. What does Freud say the ordinary man understands by his religion?

3. What does Freud say is the difference between love and aim-inhibited love?

4. When does Freud say this view came into fashion?

5. What is Freud’s personal feeling about religion?

6. What is Freud's response to his friend's feeling?

7. How does Freud say the love instinct has changed throughout the development of civilization?

8. What does Freud say is the difference between creating art and enjoying art?

9. What does Freud say is the typical attitude about civilization’s disadvantages?

10. How does Freud say instincts react when they are resisted through intoxication or through other forms of avoidance?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Write an evaluative review of Civilization and Its Discontents. What is this book’s place in culture? What are its uses? What are its limitations?

Essay Topic 2

Identify the most important plot points in Civilization and Its Discontents. What is at stake in each of these moments? What possibilities do these moments present, and how are those possibilities channeled into specific actions or events? How does the plot chart its course among other alternative or possible plots?

Essay Topic 3

In Freud's account, guilt and the super-ego require sacrifices in order to be allayed. Where in contemporary culture do you find people making sacrifices, and what feelings are they assuaging by making them?

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This section contains 948 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample