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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 posits that the fear of what is a phobia that develops as a response to the abject of mother-lust?

2. In the Old Testament, Adam was punished for eating from what?

3. What type of sea creatures are forbidden from being eaten, according to the Old Testament?

4. What does Kristeva says is the only way man can express the abject?

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 two ways of relating to the abject does Kristeva says Dostoevsky presents in "The Possessed"?

2. According to traditional beliefs in Christianity, how does Adam's original sin taint human freedoms?

3. How does Kristeva say the abject relates to lust?

4. How does Kristeva point out that Judaism differs from other old world religions in terms of worshiping gods?

5. How does Kristeva explain phobias?

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

7. How does Mary Douglas explain the idea that impurity about the body is a phobia derived from the abject?

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

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

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the concept of the "zero-state" in young children. What does Kristeva mean when she talks about the zero state? What happens when a child starts to come out of the zero state? What are some of the fears and desires that a young, pre-cognitive child might have? How do the fears and desires sync up with Freud's model of the Oedipal triangle? How do they go against it?

Essay Topic 2

Explore Celine's use of interesting stylistic choices in his writing. What are a few of the stylistic choices Kristeva points out? Why does she link his interesting use of language to the abject? What does Kristeva believe is Celine's goal with language? How can this goal be linked back to the abject?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss the role of Sigmund Freud in the book. How does Kristeva make use of his ideas? How do her ideas relate to his? How are they different? Describe two instances where she explains his view on a subject and expands upon it.

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