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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 Bataille describe as a symptom of cultural crisis?
(a) Technological incompetence.
(b) Administrative impudence.
(c) Outrageous profits.
(d) Bureaucratic regulation.

2. Under what conditions can a state be democratic, in Bataille's opinion?
(a) When homogeneity can be broken up peacefully.
(b) When heterogeneity happens spontaneously.
(c) When heterogeneity can be controlled with force.
(d) When homogeneity happens spontaneously.

3. What was the essay "Sacrifices" used as?
(a) A criticism.
(b) A review.
(c) A personal essay.
(d) As a preface.

4. What does Bataille say is the contradiction in Christians worshiping God?
(a) They elevate God's power, but claim it for themselves alone.
(b) They only go to church one day a week, but work the other six in profane employments.
(c) They hold people to scripture in private life but not in the marketplace.
(d) They keep the poor down while their worship exalts them.

5. What feeling does Bataille say grows in response to revolutionaries?
(a) Distrust.
(b) Disillusionment.
(c) Faith.
(d) Messianism.

Short Answer Questions

1. How did Engels and Hartmann differ on the tenets of Hegel's "Philosophy of Nature"?

2. What does Bataille say is analogous to the maternal breast?

3. What was Nietzsche's relationship with fascism, in Bataille's account?

4. What does Bataille say is the only religion for fascists?

5. What did Bataille and Andre Masson dream about as Bataille was writing "The Labyrinth"?

Short Essay Questions

1. Describe Bataille's notion of potlatch.

2. What is the importance of the obelisk in "The Obelisk"?

3. How does a man find himself in "The Labyrinth"?

4. What pattern for self-discovery does Bataille offer in "The Sacred"?

5. How did Nietzsche respond to the decay of his culture, according to Bataille's essay "Nietzschean Chronicle"?

6. What is the difference between homogeneous and heterogeneous culture as Bataille defines them in "Psychological Structure of Fascism"?

7. How do Fascists define God, in Bataille's account in "Propositions"?

8. What does Bataille see as the value of Christianity of in "The Notion of Expenditure"?

9. What is Bataille's interpretation of Veblen's theory of conspicuous consumption?

10. Briefly describe the theory of conspicuous consumption.

(see the answer keys)

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