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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 Christianity teaches that is man is divided between spirit and what?

2. According to Jewish rituals, a newborn boy is considered pure on what condition?

3. Kristeva cites Neusner as having studied what law?

4. Kristeva accepts the psychoanalytic theories of what psychoanalyst?

5. One interpretation of the laws in the Old Testament, which Kristeva cites, says that impurity is identified with contact with whom?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does it mean when Kristeva says she gives a "phenomenological" account of the abject?

2. What reason does Kristeva give for why women in the Jewish faith are seen as impure after having children?

3. How do some societies try to purify a "defiled" person?

4. How does Kristeva explain phobias?

5. What example does Kristeva give phobias which involves beautiful women?

6. How does Kristeva say Christianity uses separation and division?

7. What does Kristeva say about how fears and desires are formed in young children?

8. What are the two stages in which Kristeva says the quest for the "Other" breaks down?

9. How does social status play a role in purity customs in India?

10. What does Kristeva say about how the New Testament contradicts the traditional Christian thoughts about the origin of sin?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Explore Kristeva's use of the the traditional Freudian model of the Oedipal triangle. Why is it the perfect tool to explain the abject? How does she expand upon it? Why does she say it is flawed?

Essay Topic 2

Why do you think Kristeva set out on this journey to explain and even further understand the abject herself? If the abject is not expressible through language, what would be the purpose of trying to explain it in words, the way Kristeva has? What does she say the purpose of understanding and even confronting the abject is? How effective do you think Kristeva was at explaining the abject? Explain your answer with examples from the text.

Essay Topic 3

Explore the theme of language throughout the book. What does Kristeva seem to think about language and how it can be used? What reason does Kristeva give for why the abject exists outside of language? How can people relate to the abject if not through language? What do you think is the purpose of trying to explain the abject through an essay if it can cannot be felt through words?

(see the answer keys)

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