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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. Celine's doctoral dissertation dealt with what topic?

2. Celine was of what nationality?

3. Chapter 8 "Those Females Who Wreck the Infinite" begins with a quote that was taken from a letter written to whom?

4. To whom does Kristeva say "Journey to the End of the Night" is dedicated?

5. Kristeva quotes Celine as saying he is not a man ideas but a man of what?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Kristeva say Celine seemed to feel about human identities?

2. Describe Celine's mother type of character.

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

4. What reasons does Kristeva give for why Celine agreed with anti-Jew sentiments?

5. Why would Celine's work not be considered abject when he was actively writing them?

6. How did Celine seem to feel about the French language and the English language?

7. What does Kristeva say about how Celine's novels are realistic?

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

9. Explain how Kristeva says Celine used grotesque acts in his works.

10. In what ways that Kristeva points out do Celine's writings differ from Jewish ideas?

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

Explore Celine's use of interesting stylistic choices in his writing. What are a few of the stylistic choices Kristeva points out? Why does she link his interesting use of language to the abject? What does Kristeva believe is Celine's goal with language? How can this goal be linked back to the abject?

Essay Topic 3

According to Kristeva's essay, what seems to be the purpose of Celine's use of grotesque and crude imagery? What is he trying to show his readers about their nature and about their identity? How does he use these grotesque images to relate man back to the abject?

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