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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. From what does Panurge suggest the protective walls of Paris be built?
(a) Female genitalia.
(b) Bull horns.
(c) Monks' robes.
(d) Arms of strong warriors.

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

3. What is the theme of "cuckoldry"?
(a) The rejection of an old husband and the crowning of a new husband.
(b) The portion of the feast in which all the fowl are consumed.
(c) The act of voting a new mayor and chasing the old one out of town.
(d) The introduction of one rooster into a rowdy henhouse.

4. Bakhtin discusses "Cyprian's Supper," which is a play about:
(a) A man who fasted for a year.
(b) Greed which results in a shortage of food.
(c) A wedding banquet for a prince.
(d) Figures from the Bible at a great feast.

5. What are the languages involved in what Bakhtin terms the "triple linguistic process" of Rabelais' time?
(a) Classic Latin, Middle French, and vernacular French.
(b) Medieval Latin, Old French, and Middle French.
(c) Classic Latin, Medieval Latin, and vernacular French.
(d) Medieval Latin, Middle French, and Middle German.

6. What did the word "pantagruel" colloquially mean in the Renaissance?
(a) A type of thin porridge eaten exclusively by the very poor.
(b) Hoarseness caused by drinking too much.
(c) Foolish behavior caused by listening to fables.
(d) Articles of clothing, made of harsh cloth, that cover the legs.

7. What is a Renaissance "diablerie"?
(a) A curse one shouts at another, meaning, "To the devil with you!"
(b) A series of prayers one says to beg forgiveness for misbehavior.
(c) A portion of Carnival in which actors dress up as devils.
(d) A type of behavior manual that purports to stop devilish behavior.

8. To what are "swabs" most closely related?
(a) The spiritual intellect's conversant function
(b) The material body upper stratum.
(c) The material body lower stratum.
(d) The liver and gallbladder's production of bile.

9. In the Fourth Book, why does Villon set a trap for Tappecoue (or "Ticklepecker")?
(a) Tappecoue refused to lie to the king about Villon's sacrilege.
(b) Tappecoue stole a large sum of money from Villon.
(c) Tappecoue insulted Villon's family.
(d) Tappecoue refused to lend Villon vestments for his play.

10. 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 switching of the lower bodily functions with the higher ones.
(c) The privileging of intellect over the baser functions of the body.
(d) The inherent comedic potential of words and speech.

11. What is the image of woman in the Renaissance popular comic tradition?
(a) Ambivalent: woman is degraded but simultaneously regenerative.
(b) Positive: woman is the light of the future, and must be celebrated.
(c) Materialist: woman is worth money, in her body or from her work.
(d) Negative: woman is the source of all sin, and must be oppressed.

12. Where did Rabelais collect most of his rich vocabulary?
(a) From scientific treatises.
(b) From monastic inscriptions.
(c) From poetic manuscripts.
(d) From vernacular speech.

13. What Renaissance series of works was highly influential to Rabelais' notion of the grotesque body?
(a) The "New World Chronicles."
(b) The "Indian Wonders."
(c) The "Oriental Tales."
(d) The "Nordic Fictions."

14. The principle of "negation" in popular-festive imagery is always:
(a) Tangible and obvious: one thing turned about for another.
(b) Vulgar and dirty: always having to do with the material body lower stratum.
(c) Abstract and theoretical: imaginary rather than actualized.
(d) Spiritual and sacred: following the doctrines of the Catholic Church.

15. What is especially apparent in Rabelais' own "Pantagruelesque Prognostic" prophecy?
(a) Images of the wrath of nature and of destruction.
(b) Predictions of wars and slaughter.
(c) Predictions concerning lovers.
(d) Images of the material body and of festivity.

Short Answer Questions

1. In Rabelais' novel, the "ancestral body" to which Bakhtin refers means:

2. What does Bakhtin assert is evident in Rabelais' plan for Pantagruel's journey?

3. What in Rabelais' novel is a travesty of Gospel miracles?

4. After Rabelais' time, what happens to the "body" as a general social idea?

5. What particular tradition did Peter the Great bring to Russia from Western Europe?

(see the answer keys)

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