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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 did Sade state that "I have never written"?

2. In what novel did Sade say virtue was best rewarded?

3. Which of Sade's plays was a great success?

4. According to Freud, what is "the life instinct"?

5. What did Sade "push to a point" where "it will be invested with the form of a truly transcendental fatalism"?

Short Essay Questions

1. According to Beauvoir, what did Sade fear?

2. What did Klossowski quote from "The 120 Days of Sodom" regarding happiness?

3. According to Sade, how did Villeterque use "out of context isolated phrases"?

4. What did Sade believe regarding motion?

5. Why did Villeterque state that he would only address one of the questions that Sade posed in "Reflections on the Novel"?

6. What does Courval do to find a new wife?

7. Where did Sade believe that the original and eternal Nature existed?

8. What was the contradiction that Villeterque set up regarding glory, virtue, and villainy?

9. What did Sade say about the effect that "insults directed by jealousy" had on a "man of letters"?

10. Why did Villeterque state that Sade held "erroneous opinions"?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Do you believe that Sade's writings were pornographic? Or, did he go beyond pornographic for you (as a reader)? Were there specific actions that you would consider "going a little too far"? Or, do you believe that Sade went just far enough?

Essay Topic 2

In "Must We Burn Sade?" Simone de Beauvior stated that he believed that Sade's hatred of his mother was "the key to his life and work." What do you believe this to mean? Given that not much is known about Sade's life as a child, what could one assume that Sade's hatred for his mother was based upon? (Hint: Freud is mentioned in this section. What would Freud say?)

Essay Topic 3

In an age where technology reigns supreme, people are mystified and obsessed with criminals. This is evidenced by television shows which feature serial killers and movies that are meant to disgust and frighten. Do you think that society is ready for Sade? Why/Why not?

(see the answer keys)

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