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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Artaud asserts that in the Occidental version of theater, _____ are everything.
(a) Words.
(b) Gestures.
(c) Sounds.
(d) Costumes.

2. Why is the "Theater of Cruelty" considered cruel by Artaud?
(a) Its basis is that of pain.
(b) It resurrects tortured gods.
(c) It attacks the foundation of culture.
(d) It aims to redeem mankind.

3. In the preface, Artaud makes an analogy remarking that we (white Europeans) are unaware that to anyone else, we might be the ones who what?
(a) Are barbaric.
(b) Have no taste.
(c) Are uncouth.
(d) Smell bad.

4. The "gold" of the theater evokes in the spirit what, according to Artaud?
(a) True understanding.
(b) Absolute and abstract purity.
(c) Answers to man's questions.
(d) Poetry.

5. What is the mise en scene composed of?
(a) Poetry.
(b) Psychological awareness.
(c) Acting.
(d) Everything around production.

Short Answer Questions

1. In the Preface, Artaud contends we must "break through ________ in order to touch life to create or recreate the theater."

2. Alchemy uses what to reflect physical operations at a spiritual level?

3. Who is the painter whom Artaud writes of in "Metaphysics and the Mise en Scene"?

4. In what town does Artaud tell the story of the plague being foreseen by the viceroy?

5. In the Balinese theater, Artaud writes "The drama does not develop as a conflict of feelings but as a conflict of" what?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Artaud describe the gestures of the Balinese Theater? How are they "understandable?"

2. What does "gold" represent in Artaud's analogy of "The Alchemical Theater"?

3. What is the "perversion" of the theater of the west, according to the author?

4. What does Artaud write of civilization and culture in his Preface?

5. What does the author claim is the reasoning behind why the public is turning away from the "higher" arts in "No More Masterpieces"?

6. In "Oriental and Occidental Theater," how does Artaud describe the downfall of the West?

7. What is the principle limitation of the current theater, as described by the author in "Metaphysics and the Mise en Scene"?

8. What does Artaud write about the message of the painting he describes in "Metaphysics and the Mise en Scene"?

9. In what reference does Artaud comment on Plato in "The Alchemical Theater"?

10. What is the link between art and culture in the Occidental theater? How must this change, according to Artaud?

(see the answer keys)

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