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. According to Freud's Oedipal Triangle model, people constantly seek fulfillment and self-realization through some other object, referred to as what?

2. Kristeva says the abject is somewhere between being an object and what?

3. What way does Kristeva say a person will begin to act in when he no longer has any regard for the law?

4. Since the boy is forced to repress his desire for the "maternal body" at a young age, Kristeva says he has not yet understood the situation in what way?

5. What book of the Bible addresses rules around eating meat?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Kristeva say are the two prevailing interpretations of the laws regarding ritual impurity in the Old Testament?

2. How does Mary Douglas explain the idea that impurity about the body is a phobia derived from the abject?

3. According to class theory, how are the drives of an individual divided?

4. What example does Kristeva give phobias which involves beautiful women?

5. What does Kristeva say is the most plausible interpretation of the laws regarding ritual impurity in the Old Testament?

6. According to traditional beliefs in Christianity, how does Adam's original sin taint human freedoms?

7. What does Kristeva say happens when one stops trying to seek out the "Other"?

8. What are the two stages in which Kristeva says the quest for the "Other" breaks down?

9. Why does Kristeva say man gained permission to eat some animals?

10. What is the correlation Kristeva presents between the importance of social status in sexual relationships and the equality between the sexes?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the motif of incest in the book. Why do you think Kristeva spends so much time on this topic? Why does she say there is such a taboo around incest? How does it relate to the abject? What does she seem to think about this taboo?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss Kristeva's reasoning for saying Celine's Nazism should not deter from the value of his work. What does Kristeva say about Celine's Nazism? Why does she say it need not detract from his writings? Does it seem like she is making excuses, or is what she says valid? What techniques does Kristeva use to convey her views on his Nazism?

Essay Topic 3

Explore the theme of language throughout the book. What does Kristeva seem to think about language and how it can be used? What reason does Kristeva give for why the abject exists outside of language? How can people relate to the abject if not through language? What do you think is the purpose of trying to explain the abject through an essay if it can cannot be felt through words?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 955 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample