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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. Kristeva says she gets a feeling from reading Celine that she does not get from whom?

2. In which of Celine's books does his character Molly appear?

3. What is the last name of James Joyce's Molly character?

4. According to Kristeva, Celine's language exhibits a fascination with what kind of speech?

5. In "Journey to the End of the Night," the narrator says that one should "always be frightened" of what?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

3. Describe Celine's mother type of character.

4. How does Kristeva seem to feel about Celine's Nazism?

5. Why does Kristeva say it makes sense that Celine would say his style was the most important part of his writing?

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

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

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

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

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss the way phobias relate to the abject in the book. Where does Kristeva say phobias come from? What are people really afraid of? What do phobias seem to represent, with regard to the abject?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss the concept of the Other as part of the Oedipal triangle. What does Kristeva say the Other is? Why does man try to seek fulfillment through it? What happens when man stops trying to seek fulfillment through the Other? How does this relate to the abject?

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