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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. Why was it a mistake for Bataille to use his intellectual violence on Breton?

2. When was "Acephale" published?

3. Why did Bataille attack Nietzsche?

4. How does Bataille describe his father?

5. What kind of eye does Victor Hugo describe in a poem Bataille cites?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Bataille say about surrealism in "The 'Old Mole' and the Prefix Sur in the Words Surhomme [Superman] and Surrealist"?

2. What is Bataille's relationship with Hegel?

3. What type of essay is "Formless"?

4. What claim did Bataille make in "The Lugubrious Game"?

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

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

7. What were Bataille's early publications?

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

9. What is the value of intellectual violence in Bataille's work?

10. Explain the title of the essay "The Use Value of D. A. F. de Sade".

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Describe Bataille's opposition to dialectics. Is he consistent with his own anti-dialectic stance in his writing? Identify the places where Bataille's writing is most successful in opposing dialectics.

Essay Topic 2

How has the importance of obscenity in literature changed since Bataille's time? Research the reactions to Bataille and to other writers who used disorienting or profane language during Bataille's time, and describe the changes that have taken place in readers' response to obscene or profane or sacrilegious material.

Essay Topic 3

Describe the importance of Nietzsche's ideas and writing in Bataille's work--what did Bataille say by referring to Nietzsche's work?

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