View a FREE sample

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

Short Answer Questions

1. Who does Freud say the savage blames if bad things happen to him?

2. What does Freud say seems to be unimportant to the unity of human society?

3. What does Freud say needs to be taken into account when considering the love one should have for neighbors and enemies?

4. What does Freud say destructive behavior is directed outward?

5. How does Freud characterize the impulse behind he injunction to love thy neighbor as thyself?

Short Essay Questions

1. How pervasive does Freud say the human sentiments about property are?

2. In what regard to human beings differ from animals, in Freud's account?

3. How do sadism and masochism reveal the interplay between Eros and death instincts, in Freud's account?

4. What insights does Freud offer into the value of communism?

5. How, according to Freud, do other people figure differently in sensual love and social love?

6. How does Freud say society uses men’s aggression productively?

7. How does Freud characterize the traditional view of the extremes of pleasure and pain in love?

8. How does Freud describe the function of narcissism in the ego?

9. What does Freud say society does in order to accommodate the traits he sees in human nature?

10. How does Freud characterize the mindset of people who do not appreciate the reality he is describing, of hostility as a fundamental force of human nature?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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?

Essay Topic 2

Would you recommend Civilization and Its Discontents? For what purposes would you recommend Civilization and Its Discontents, and what kinds of readers would you recommend it for? What other book would you recommend that would cover the same material or tell the same story in a different way?

Essay Topic 3

Describe Freud’s treatment of women, and their place in his theories. How would Civilization and its Discontents be different if it were written based on a woman’s perspective?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 942 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample