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 Kristeva's definition of the abject, the abject cannot be acknowledged through what?

2. The drives of an individual can be divided into sexual drives and drives from the ego, according to what theory?

3. What state does Freud say a subject will be sent into when the repressed desire for one's mother's body breaks out of its repression?

4. Kristeva says Freud is successful in his treatment of the subject-object relation when he approaches it from the perspective of what?

5. What does Kristeva say children begin to develop, upsetting a child's perfect equilibrium of desire and satisfaction?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Kristeva point out that Judaism differs from other old world religions in terms of worshiping gods?

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

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

4. How does Kristeva say the impurity phobia serves as a metaphor for society?

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

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

7. How does Kristeva explain phobias?

8. What does Kristeva say about how the New Testament contradicts the traditional Christian thoughts about the origin of sin?

9. What does Kristeva mean when she talks about "subjectified abjection"?

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Explore Kristeva's use of the concept of sin. How is the concept of sin relevant to the study of the abject? What differences does Kristeva mention in how sin is referred to in the Old Testament and the New Testament? What does she mean when she says sin in the New Testament is a form of "subjectified abjection"?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss the concept of the "zero-state" in young children. What does Kristeva mean when she talks about the zero state? What happens when a child starts to come out of the zero state? What are some of the fears and desires that a young, pre-cognitive child might have? How do the fears and desires sync up with Freud's model of the Oedipal triangle? How do they go against it?

Essay Topic 3

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?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 935 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample