Name:_______________________________ Period:_________ Totem and Taboo Sigmund Freud After having read the essay “Totem and Taboo”, answer the following questions in the form of a brief paragraph. 1. Define the term “totem” according to Freud. Give a quote from the text, and clarify it in your own words. 2. How does Freud explain the horror of incest in Chapter 1? 3. Define the term “taboo” according to Freud. Give a quote from the text and clarify it in your own words. 4. What does “ambivalence” mean? How does Freud apply ambivalence to his theories about the taboo? 5. Freud discusses the concept of touching more in an intellectual sense than a physical sense. What does Freud mean by intellectual touching? In what ways can we touch something intellectually? 6. Why is atonement more fundamental than purification according to Freud? 7. Freud discusses a taboo on names early in the text and elaborates on page 65. What is the significance of names according to Freud? Where in popular or modern culture do we see such taboos? 8. How does Freud define conscience on page 79? Discuss conscience using an example relatable to modern circumstances. 9. Define the term animism. If animism comes from the term anima meaning “animating principle”, how are we to understand animism? 10. How does Freud’s discussion on animism coincide with Nietzsche’s discussion on truth? Cite one specific quote from each text to support your connection. 11. Freud reintroduces the Oedipus Complex around page 150. How does the Oedipus Complex relate to Freud’s new ideas about totemism and taboo? 12. Discuss what is meant when Freud claims that, “It therefore seems plausible to suppose that the god himself was the totem animal, and that he developed out of it at a later stage of religious feeling. But we are relieved from the necessity for further discussion by the consideration that the totem is nothing other than a surrogate of the father”(Freud, 171-172). Why is it that we are relieved, and what are we relieved from? What could we possibly find out by further discussing the point? 13. Freud’s discussion of the Hero on page 181 suggests a particular role for the Hero. What understanding of the hero does the essay develop? 14. What is the difference between a neurotic and a primitive man according to the last paragraph of Freud’s essay? This discussion leads to the subject of inhibitions. Discuss Freud’s perspective on thoughts and inhibitions. Which method of engagement does Freud seem to promote? 15. Formulate 5 questions that need clarification; identify and copy down 3 significant quotes not covered in the above questions. Include page numbers for both questions and quotes. .