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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. According to Schneegans, what is the grotesque in art?
(a) A representation of an otherworldly object.
(b) A spoken-word performance involving violent acts.
(c) A caricature that has reached exaggerated dimensions.
(d) A portrait that has been defaced.

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

3. What are examples of that which Bakhtin calls "cosmic terrors"?
(a) Vengeful pagan deities.
(b) Violent beings from another universe.
(c) Atheists who insult and threaten God.
(d) The sky, the sea, and natural disasters.

4. One of Rabelais' main sources for his enumerations of food was a Medieval treatise about:
(a) Lenten and non-Lenten foods.
(b) Restrictions of food for pregnant women.
(c) The ways in which chicken tasted better than pheasant.
(d) The proper order in which to eat banquet foods.

5. What is revealed in images of "negation"?
(a) The opposition to the official world.
(b) The harmful aspects of society.
(c) The refusal of commitment between lovers.
(d) The destructive impulse of humanity.

6. In Medieval satires, the dismemberment of portions of the body relates to:
(a) The human body itself.
(b) The separate portions of society.
(c) The general conception of the divine.
(d) The topography of the continents.

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

8. Bakhtin asserts that Rabelais' grotesque conception of the body reflected:
(a) The Medieval doctrine of natural hierarchy.
(b) The Classical philosophy of Epicureanism.
(c) The Renaissance re-envisioning of the cosmos.
(d) The Calvinist idea of predestination and grace.

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

10. What body part is most often used in grotesque caricatures of sexual potency?
(a) The nose.
(b) The hands.
(c) The feet.
(d) The torso.

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

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

13. Bakhtin generally finds Goethe's sense of Carnival's _____________ to agree with his own views.
(a) Poetic expression.
(b) Religiousness.
(c) Pessimism.
(d) Universalism.

14. Why did Hippocrates assert such an influence on Rabelais?
(a) The theme of religious fervor in his works.
(b) The theme of the grotesque body in his works.
(c) All his works were set in the marketplace.
(d) Hippocrates' exclusive emphasis on folk culture.

15. Bakhtin asserts that the spirit of Carnival is essentially:
(a) One of innocence and confusion.
(b) One of dullness and duty.
(c) One of pessimism and regression.
(d) One of immortality and regeneration.

Short Answer Questions

1. What are the languages involved in what Bakhtin terms the "triple linguistic process" of Rabelais' time?

2. In Rabelais' novel, the words "to die" are closely associated with:

3. What significant thing did translators of Rabelais' work add to their translations?

4. What does Bakhtin consider the "symposium" of Medieval grotesque realism?

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

(see the answer keys)

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