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

Multiple Choice Questions

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

2. What are the three categories of the "comic" which Bakhtin cites from Schneegans?
(a) The clownish, the burlesque, and the grotesque.
(b) The grotesque, the ridiculous, and the satiric.
(c) The painted, the sketched, and the acted.
(d) The satiric, the clownish, and the visual.

3. From which Catholic ritual does Panurge profit in _Pantagruel_?
(a) The High Mass.
(b) Papal indulgences.
(c) Saying the Rosary.
(d) Communion.

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

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

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

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

8. What significant thing did translators of Rabelais' work add to their translations?
(a) Critical inquiry of the validity of Rabelais' portrayal of marketplace culture.
(b) Editorial remarks in the form of footnotes.
(c) Lists of games played in their own countries.
(d) Lists of street cries common in their own countries.

9. What does Bakhtin consider the "symposium" of Medieval grotesque realism?
(a) Vows spoken between lovers.
(b) The tradition of festive speech.
(c) Bear-baiting in the town square.
(d) Refereed debates between two clergymen.

10. In grotesque realism, the body is most often represented as:
(a) Several separate units fighting with each other for superiority.
(b) A faulty copy of the Divine.
(c) A whole unit, interior merged with exterior.
(d) Subordinate to the higher functions of the brain.

11. What in Rabelais' novel is a travesty of Gospel miracles?
(a) Epistemon's resurrection and visions of the underworld.
(b) Gargantua's glimpse into heaven and dialogue with God.
(c) Panurge's seduction of a local knight's wife.
(d) Friar John's defense of the abbey vineyards and beating of thousands.

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

13. In which element of Shakespeare's dramas does Bakhtin see the overall theme of Rabelais' carnivalesque repeated?
(a) In the strengths of characters such as Hamlet and Othello.
(b) In the tragic elements of Shakespeare's romances.
(c) In the farcical secondary characters.
(d) In the logic of crownings and uncrownings.

14. Bakhtin asserts that man introduces the world to himself primarily through which act?
(a) Eating.
(b) Observing nature.
(c) Sexual intercourse.
(d) Conversation.

15. 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.

Short Answer Questions

1. Bakhtin finds food and drink representative of society because:

2. What does Bakhtin assert is evident in Rabelais' use of games that combine play and prophecy?

3. What is especially apparent in Rabelais' own "Pantagruelesque Prognostic" prophecy?

4. According to Bakhtin, Carnival was the true symbol and incarnation of:

5. Bakhtin asserts that in Rabelais' time, food and banquets always contained a sense of:

(see the answer keys)

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