Exam Topics B - REL 353 Dark Self

The exam will be the readings and lectures. If you will not be here on Wednesday, March 7 to take the exam, you must make prior arrangements by Friday, March 2. You must receive prior permission for absence as well as to take the exam separately. Only exceptional cases will be allowed.

The exam will be multiple choice, and as covered in the syllabus, will count 10% of your grade. There is only one right answer per question. If there appears to be more than one right answer, pick the best answer.

If you have any questions about the exam or the topics included in the exam, please ask. You can come in during office hours, make an appointment or inquire by email.

Zhuangzi and Daoism

• The Story of how the Zhuangzi was compiled
• Who was Zhuangzi - lifestyle, family, contradictions in his story (simpleton farmer vs scholar-author)
• The relation between perspectivalism (pp. 41-42), dissolution of boundaries (p. 44), and oneness (p. 38) in Zhuangzi's view of language, truth, and reality (this and that p. 35; language like a fish trap p. 141).
• The social and philosophical significance of figures like Cook Ding and Woodworker Qing, Crippled Shu and the Madman of Chu.

Shinran and Pure Land Buddhism

• Tannisho: What is the difference between the first ten sections and the last eight sections?
• Tannisho: What place does this work have in relation to Shinran's own writings? (See Mark Unno, "The Nembutsu of No-Meaning.")
• The central practice in the Shin school of Pure Land Buddhism is saying the Name, Namu Amida Butsu. What does Namu refer to, and what does Amida Butsu signify?
• What is the relationship between "foolish being" and "Amida Buddha."?
• Who was Honen (see "Key Terms-Pure Land Buddhism")?

Coffinman

• What does "Coffinman" refer to?
• What does Aoki experience when he prepares his former girlfriends' father's body for the funeral? How does this change his life?
• What does mizore, a Japanese word for a mixture of snow and rain, have to do with life and death?
• What does the character of Louis the chiropractor represent?
  

Audre Lorde

• What is Audre Lorde's view of the relation between the erotic and the spiritual?

Jacob's Ladder

• What four (or five) worlds does Jacob traverse, two (or three) in this world, and two in the religious or mythical realms?

Color Purple

• What are the different forms of prejudice described in the novel?
• What kinds of male characters do we find?
• What is Celie's view of the divine? Does it change over time? How?