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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. In "An Affective Athleticism," Artaud writes, "One must grant the actor a kind of affective musculature which corresponds to the physical localizations of ______."
(a) Breath.
(b) Sanity.
(c) Thought.
(d) Feelings.

2. In his third letter from "Letters on Language," Artaud states that he never meant for cruelty to be used sporadically, but rather as the _____ of his theater."
(a) Accoutrement.
(b) Foundation.
(c) Property.
(d) Spectacle.

3. What does Artaud compare actors of the "current" theater to in "The Theater and Cruelty"?
(a) Religious leaders.
(b) Puppets.
(c) Circus freaks.
(d) Artisans.

4. What is the "distinct poetic state of mind" which Artaud terms for the film he discusses in "Two Notes"?
(a) Realism.
(b) Absurdism.
(c) Comedy.
(d) Surrealism.

5. In his second note of "Two Notes," Artaud writes, "everything that is ______ is sacred and since his gestures are so beautiful that they take on a symbolic significance."
(a) Surreal.
(b) Realistic.
(c) Symbolic.
(d) Authentic.

Short Answer Questions

1. To whom does the author address the second letter from "Letters on Cruelty"?

2. What is the title of the first example Artaud writes the Theater of Cruelty will undertake?

3. In his first manifesto, Artaud claims that the first thing to notice about theater is that it only expresses itself in ______.

4. Of the word "cruelty," Artaud writes in his letters that the word represents "irreversible and absolute" what?

5. Artaud claims that the psychological theater descended from whom?

Short Essay Questions

1. Describe the events of the first two acts of "The Conquest of Mexico."

2. How does Artaud describe what "cruelty" is not referring to in his letters?

3. What must the actor control in order to relate emotions he wants to convey?

4. What does Artaud describe "cruelty" in reference to in his letters?

5. What is Artaud's approach to the audience in the theater of cruelty?

6. To whom is Artaud's third letter written in "Letters on Cruelty"? What is the author's tone in this letter? Why?

7. Discuss and describe Artaud's depiction of lighting for the Theater of Cruelty in the First Manifesto.

8. What is Artaud's subject of his second note in "Two Notes"?

9. Describe the events of the last two acts of "The Conquest of Mexico."

10. What are the differences the author notes between the athlete and the actor?

(see the answer keys)

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