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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What type of work did Rabelais often publish, especially for the fairs?
(a) Biographies of public figures.
(b) Religious tracts.
(c) Calendars or almanacs.
(d) Political treatises.

2. Did the "unofficial" and "official" forms of speech ever coincide?
(a) No, except during times of war.
(b) No, both forms of speech were highly regulated.
(c) Yes, except for religious holidays.
(d) Yes, especially during festivals.

3. How is the figure of the king treated in Rabelais' writing?
(a) Like a criminal: charged, tried, and punished.
(b) Like a clown: beaten, travestied, and transformed.
(c) Like a child: pampered, sheltered, and beloved.
(d) Like a god: worshipped, feared, and obeyed.

4. How does Bakhtin interpret the relevance of the cries of Paris to Renaissance France?
(a) The cries were the people's only method of exchanging ideas.
(b) The cries combine the reality of practical life with festive utopian universalism.
(c) The cries negate the revitalization of the marketplace.
(d) The cries suggest a deep discontent in the Parisian populace.

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

Short Answer Questions

1. According to Bakhtin's semiotic understanding, what irony is inherent within the creative power of language?

2. Rabelais expresses the debasement of suffering and fear by associating them with:

3. "Friar John" is heavily associated with:

4. Why was Rabelais linked so closely to the Lyon fairs?

5. What does the "form" of any kind of art express?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why does the speaker of the prologue of the Third Book invite only good men to drink?

2. What is the underlying nature of all of Rabelais' images?

3. What do Bakhtin's examples of Rabelais' tales of extraordinary urination have in common?

4. What was the effect of the suspension of social hierarchies during Carnival?

5. What role do oaths and profanities fill in Rabelais' novel?

6. What was the general perception of laughter in the Renaissance?

7. What was Bakhtin's relationship with the Russian Union of Writers?

8. What do Rabelais' long lists of names and epithets signify?

9. Describe the Catchpoles and what they symbolize.

10. What does Rabelais parody with the character of Janotus de Bragmardo?

(see the answer keys)

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