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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. What were Bataille's feelings for Breton?

2. What is the first stage of revolution, in "The Use Value of D. A. F. de Sade"?

3. What strategy does Surrealism use for presenting images?

4. When was "Acephale" published?

5. What relationship do the writings in Section II have to the writings in Section I?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is the value of Gnosticism in "Base Materialism and Gnosticism"

2. What is expressed in the language of flowers in "The Language of Flowers"?

3. Describe the paradox at the heart of "Materialism".

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

5. Describe Bataille's birth and family origins.

6. Describe the importance of myth in Bataille's writing and thinking.

7. Describe Bataille's schooling.

8. What does Bataille say about 'freaks' in "The Deviations of Nature"?

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

10. What distinguished the big toe in "The Big Toe"?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

How did the Popular Front fulfill Bataille's ideal of heterogeneity? Analyze his description of the organization in relation with his other essays about revolution and order.

Essay Topic 2

Describe the role and importance of creativity in Bataille's thinking about art and politics.

Essay Topic 3

Bataille aligned himself with Catholicism before he broke with it as a young man--but what religion can we interpolate from Bataille's writing? Analyze his writings and describe the religion or lack of religion in Bataille's writing.

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