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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. What does the title of "The Solar Anus" refer to?
(a) The source of all matter.
(b) The blinding effect of seeing a girl's anus.
(c) The regeneration of the universe in stars that eat planets.
(d) The passage out of purgatory.

2. What was the "Acephale" group's primary purpose?
(a) To kill God.
(b) To annihilate the idea of God.
(c) To recreate the myth of God.
(d) To come into contact with God in men.

3. What relationship do the writings in Section II have to the writings in Section I?
(a) They were unprecedented.
(b) They were logical extensions.
(c) They were unrelated.
(d) They were implicit in them.

4. What feeling does Bataille exaggerate in "The Lugubrious Game"?
(a) Admiration.
(b) Mournfulness.
(c) Respect.
(d) Irreverence.

5. How does Bataille describe his work?
(a) Monocephalic.
(b) Bicephalic.
(c) Acephalic.
(d) Hydrocephalic.

Short Answer Questions

1. What critique does Bataille make in "The Critique of the Foundations of Hegelian Dialectic"?

2. Who contributed to "Documents"?

3. How do philosophers use natural forms, in "The Language of Flowers"?

4. In what piece of writing did Bataille record his childhood?

5. What does Bataille remember his father spanking him with in "[Dream]"?

Short Essay Questions

1. What are the terrifying images in "[Dream]"?

2. How would you characterize Bataille's thoughts on society and economy?

3. What were Bataille's early publications?

4. How does Bataille describe his role in "The Jesuve"?

5. How does the notion of parody apply to the sun in "The Solar Anus"?

6. How was Bataille's first book received?

7. Describe Bataille's schooling.

8. Describe the change in Bataille's early work to his more mature work and values.

9. What examples does Bataille cite to illustrate the horror of the eye's vulnerability?

10. How does self-mutilation in "Sacrificial Mutilation and the Severed Ear of Vincent Van Gogh" relate to Bataille's description of body parts in other essays.

(see the answer keys)

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