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This quiz consists of 5 multiple choice and 5 short answer questions through Chapter 3, Intro. cont. & Chapter 1 - Rabelais in the History of Laughter.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. How does Bakhtin define the novel?
(a) As a single-voiced text.
(b) As a multiplicity of styles.
(c) As a work of pure imagination.
(d) As a worthless type of literature.

2. What was unique about the Russian Revolution?
(a) It was purely a religious revolt.
(b) It continues into the present day.
(c) People of all classes and occupations were centrally involved.
(d) Only the elite class was involved.

3. During the "feast of fools" and the "feast of the ass," laughter:
(a) Was forbidden everywhere but the marketplace.
(b) Was regulated by the town fools and farmers.
(c) Was encouraged even in church.
(d) Was forbidden because of the sacredness of the festival.

4. What in particular forms the basic elements of Rabelais' novel _Gargantua_?
(a) Autobiographical observations of Rabelais' own life.
(b) Historical allusions.
(c) Predictions of the future.
(d) Classical myths.

5. What does Bakhtin find to be the greatest error other critics make in their studies of Rabelais' works?
(a) They neglect to explore the element of the Renaissance folk culture.
(b) They treat Rabelais as a prophet of literary upheavals.
(c) They classify Rabelais as just as important as Shakespeare and Cervantes.
(d) They read Rabelais' works as allegory only.

Short Answer Questions

1. In the seventeenth century, the decline of laughter as a primary force in folk culture resulted from:

2. What repressive organization was Bakhtin forced to join in order to continue writing?

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

4. With what is "folk culture" most concerned?

5. The purpose of "travesty" in folk festivals was to:

(see the answer key)

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