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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 results from acting in specialized areas, in Bataille's opinion in "The Labyrinth"?

2. What does Bataille's 'me in the void' realize in "Sacrifices"?

3. What was Nietzsche's life dominated by, in Bataille's account?

4. What was Mussolini's relationship with Nietzsche?

5. How did Andre Masson establish the tone of his book of drawings?

Short Essay Questions

1. What aspect of Nietzsche's philosophy did the Fascists appropriate, in Bataille's account in "Nietzsche and the Fascists"?

2. What does Bataille say is the only true liberating act, in "Propositions"?

3. What is fascism's relationship with homo- and heterogeneity?

4. Summarize Nicolai Hartmann's interpretation of Hegel.

5. What is the importance of the obelisk in "The Obelisk"?

6. What flaw does Bataille identify in dialectic philosophy in "The Critique of the Foundations of the Hegelian Dialectic"?

7. How does a man find himself in "The Labyrinth"?

8. How does Andre Masson create the tone of the drawings in the book for which Bataille wrote a preface?

9. What is Bataille's interpretation of Veblen's theory of conspicuous consumption?

10. What does contemporary society offer men in "The Sacred Conspiracy", and what does man demand for himself?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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.

Essay Topic 2

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 3

What exactly is it that Bataille wants people to see about reality and human experience? Describe the value of pornographic or chaotic or revolutionary things in Bataille's work.

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This section contains 728 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample