View a FREE sample

This quiz consists of 5 multiple choice and 5 short answer questions through Chapter 15, Chapter 6 - Images of the Material Bodily Lower Stratum.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What does Rabelais parody in his response to the episode of Gargantua's birth?
(a) The Medieval doctrine of faith.
(b) The Classical philosophy of stoicism.
(c) The Christian doctrine of submission.
(d) The Renaissance philosophy of humanism.

2. What were "street cries"?
(a) The shouted, versified advertisements of market vendors.
(b) The calls of the city bellringer telling the time.
(c) The warnings people yell when they throw the contents of their chamber pot out the window.
(d) The sobs of orphans who live on the street.

3. Rabelais expresses the debasement of suffering and fear by associating them with:
(a) Sexual intercourse.
(b) Hunger.
(c) Defecation.
(d) Religious fervor.

4. Rabelais' description of Alcibiades reflects:
(a) The image of Rabelais himself.
(b) The good/evil dichotomy of mankind.
(c) The abuse/praise dynamics of the marketplace.
(d) The idea that ancient philosophies were incorrect.

5. According to Bakhtin, the "birth" of the word by the clown is an example of:
(a) The difficulty of spreading information in an illiterate culture.
(b) The inherent comedic potential of words and speech.
(c) The privileging of intellect over the baser functions of the body.
(d) The switching of the lower bodily functions with the higher ones.

Short Answer Questions

1. Bakhtin asserts that "The Play in the Bower" influenced Rabelais' work specifically in its:

2. What does young Gargantua study in order to become acquainted with the common folk?

3. To what does Veselovsky compare Rabelais?

4. What is a "marketplace spectacle"?

5. How does Friar John interpret the riddle he and Gargantua hear?

(see the answer key)

This section contains 370 words (approx. 2 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample