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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. In which of Celine's books does the narrator say, "A beautiful shroud embroidered with tales--that's what the Pale Lady wants"?
(a) Death on the Installment Plan.
(b) Journey to the End of the Night.
(c) School of Corpses.
(d) Trifles for a Massacre.

2. For Celine, what is the foundation of human existence?
(a) Lust.
(b) Hatred.
(c) Suffering.
(d) Love.

3. In which of Celine's works does a young character named Virginia appear?
(a) School of Corpses.
(b) North.
(c) London Bridge.
(d) Death on the Installment Plan.

4. Which of Celine's works does Kristeva say best captures the feelings of the abject?
(a) Journey to the End of the Night.
(b) Death on the Installment Plan.
(c) Trifles for a Massacre.
(d) School of Corpses.

5. In which of Celine's works is dizziness a motif?
(a) Trifles for a Massacre.
(b) School of Corpses.
(c) Death on the Installment Plan.
(d) Journey to the End of the Night.

Short Answer Questions

1. Chapter 7 "Suffering and Horror" begins with a quote from Celine which says "one can be a virgin with respect to Horror as one is a virgin toward" what?

2. Kristeva quotes Celine as saying slang is a language of what?

3. Kristeva says that the reader is thrown into what kind of state when reading Celine?

4. Kristeva says Celine is the first to realize that emotional depths are revealed by what?

5. Kristeva says a laughing apocalypse is an apocalypse without what?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why does Kristeva say it is rash to ignore any value one might find in the Anti-Semitism in Celine's work?

2. Describe Celine's mother type of character.

3. What does Kristeva say Celine felt was the foundation of human existence?

4. How did Celine present very young girls in his works?

5. Why does Kristeva say that in Germany, even when Jews were seriously persecuted, they were punished with an increased vigor?

6. What does Kristeva mean when she says Celine's language exhibits a fascination with what might be called "binary" speech?

7. Why does Kristeva say her reading of Celine will not be a thematic one?

8. How does Kristeva say Celine displaced the mother in his depiction of very young girls?

9. How, according to Kristeva, do Celine's works draw the reader to their primal repressions?

10. How does Kristeva say Celine's depictions of females relate to the abject?

(see the answer keys)

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