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This quiz consists of 5 multiple choice and 5 short answer questions through Chapter 9, Chapter 3 - Popular-Festive Forms.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. How does Bakhtin define the combination of human and animal organs in Rabelais' novel?
(a) "Scientific."
(b) "Otherworldly."
(c) "Grotesque."
(d) "Horrifying."

2. Which grotesque elements does Bakhtin note were included in the procession of the feast of Corpus Christi?
(a) Children dressed as animals.
(b) Representations of the sun, moon, and stars.
(c) Monsters, giants, and indecent gestures.
(d) Self-flagellating monks.

3. What does Bakhtin assert is evident in Rabelais' use of games that combine play and prophecy?
(a) A disregard for the importance of historical figures.
(b) A carnivalesque conception of the historical process.
(c) A ponderous, scholarly approach to the study of history.
(d) A highly spiritual notion of the relevance of human history.

4. Bakhtin asserts that in the episode of Gargantua's birth, the dividing lines between _______ are erased.
(a) Earthly and divine spiritual relationships.
(b) Human and animal organs.
(c) Human and animal consciousness.
(d) Children and adults.

5. What are the targets of the abusive language in Rabelais' prologue to the Third Book?
(a) Representatives of old, hypocritical, serious Medieval philosophy.
(b) Members of the aristocracy whose political ideals are not in keeping with Rabelais' ideals.
(c) Average townsfolk who have imbibed too much wine.
(d) Foreign travelers who have offended the traditions of Carnival.

Short Answer Questions

1. Why did Bakhtin feel his times were comparable to those of the Renaissance?

2. Bakhtin asserts that beatings, death, feasting, and merrymaking are all integral parts of:

3. How does Rabelais accomplish the grotesque degradation of his target in the prologue to the Third Book?

4. What is a "marketplace spectacle"?

5. Why does Friar John beat thousands of men in his abbey?

(see the answer key)

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