REL 253 Exam Topics B
If you will not be here on the exam
date to take the exam, you must make prior arrangements at least one week
before. 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 feel free to ask. I will set aside some time at the beginning
of class.
Eros and Agape: human love and divine love - know
what the differences are.
The Daoist Classic Zhuangzi
- What kinds of love are expressed in Zhuangzi's Daoist vision? What
kinds of love are distinctly lacking or rarely mentioned?
- What is Zhuangzi's view about death (pp. 115-117): How should it
be understood, and what happens after death?
- What do the episodes of Cook Ding (pp. 45-45) and Woodworker Qing
(p. 129) have to tell us about the Daoist storied self?
- What does the butterfly episode (p. 44) tell us about the Dao, or
the Way; the storied self in Zhuangzi's Daoism; and the ultimate
reality of the self in Daoism?
Alice Walker, The Color Purple
- What are the different kinds of love expressed by the characters
in the novel?
- How is the love between Celie and Shug related to the
transformation of Celie's view of God?
- How are themes of immanence and transcendence related to Celie's
view of God?
- What is the relation between sexuality, love, and faith for Shug?
- How is Shug's vision of God reflected in the "color purple"?
Audre Lorde, Uses of the Erotic: The Erotic as Power
- Lorde states that everyday activities like painting or reading a book
can be regarded as erotic? In what sense are they erotic?
- What does Lorde mean by defining the erotic as "spiritual"?
- What is "plasticized" sexuality, and how does it differ from what she
defines as the full realization of the erotic?
- What is the relation between oppression, sexuality, the erotic, and
spirituality?
Jacob's Ladder
- What are the different kinds of love experienced by the
protagonist Jacob Singer?
- What the different kinds of death experienced by Jacob?
- What are the selves that Jacob lives? How many storied selves are
there?
- What are some of the differences between a Buddhist interpretation
of the film (see screenwriter's comments, excerpted and on file on
Blackboard) and a more classically Christian one?
Maura O'Halloran, Pure Heart, Enlightened Mind
- How does Maura's view of her fellow Zen monks evolve as her own
story of Zen practice deepens?
- What is the relation between Maura's death and Maura's
story?
- How does Maura's teacher Go Roshi use the theme of marriage to
lead her deeper into enlightenment?
- What are some similarities and differences between her Buddhist
practice of emptying or forgetting herself through the practice of
the koan mu, and Woodworker Qing's Daoist practice
of fasting and stilling the mind?
Katsuki Sekida, Zen Training
- What is nen?
- What is the difference between first-, second-, and third-nen? How
are they related to Sekida's view of the storied self?
- How are Sekida's theory of first-nen and Brockelman's
view of the pre-conscious self similar? In what ways do they differ?
The Ten Oxherding Pictures
- What does the oxherder symbolize or represent?
- What does the ox symbolize or represent?
- In what way(s) does the storied self of the Ten Oxherding Pictures
differ from the storied self of Brockelman, Augustine, and Freud?