Questions: Existentialist Literature: Freedom, Absurdity, and Authenticity

Question 1

What is the existentialist claim about human nature and essence?

• A. Humans have a fixed essence that determines their identity
• B. Humans lack essential nature; existence precedes essence
• C. Human nature is determined by biology alone
• D. There is no such thing as human nature or existence

Answer: (B)

Existentialism's foundational claim is that humans exist first (as conscious beings) before developing any essence. Humans must create their own nature and identity through choices.

Question 2

How do existentialist writers depict the human situation regarding meaning and value?

• A. Meaning is built into the universe and easily discovered
• B. Humans must confront meaninglessness and create value through their choices
• C. Meaning is irrelevant to human existence
• D. External authorities provide all meaning

Answer: (B)

Existentialist literature depicts a universe without inherent meaning, requiring humans to create value and meaning through their choices and actions.

Question 3

Existentialist literature uses narrative and dramatic forms to merely illustrate abstract philosophical ideas without truly engaging them.

• T. True
• F. False

Answer: False

Existentialist literature enacts philosophy: characters' choices, struggles, and confrontations with meaninglessness embody philosophical arguments, making narrative inseparable from philosophy.

Question 4

Existentialist literature asserts that philosophy and literature address different domains and cannot meaningfully engage each other.

• T. True
• F. False

Answer: False

Existentialist writers proved that literature could grapple directly with fundamental philosophical questions and express philosophical arguments as powerfully as abstract thought.

Question 5

Explain why existentialist writers believed that dramatic narrative was an appropriate vehicle for exploring philosophical freedom and authenticity.

Model answer:

Philosophy often works through abstract argument, but freedom and authenticity are not abstract—they are lived, experienced, chosen. Narrative can depict these lived experiences. When a character must make a choice in a dramatic situation, readers experience the weight and consequence of freedom. When a character confronts meaninglessness and chooses to create value anyway, readers understand existential authenticity not intellectually but experientially. Drama is particularly powerful because it forces characters into immediate situations requiring action—you cannot resolve a conflict philosophically; someone must do something. This makes narrative and drama ideal for existentialist concerns: they enact freedom and choice in real time rather than discussing them theoretically.