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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. At the beginning of Chapter 6, Bakhtin argues that Rabelais' entire novel exhibits a clear, general __________ thematic trend.
(a) Conservative.
(b) Liberal.
(c) Upward.
(d) Downward.

2. 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.

3. In the example Schneegans offers, what does Rabelais' Friar John assert makes women fertile?
(a) Eating a lot of tripe.
(b) The caress of a king.
(c) The shadow of the abbey belfry
(d) Prayer to the protective saint of childbirth.

4. The defense of the abbey by Friar John contains:
(a) A debasing description of the French people.
(b) A travestied allusion to Communion.
(c) A caricature of the Pope.
(d) A grotesque combination of sexual intercourse and war.

5. "The Treatise of Garcia of Toledo," which Bakhtin cites, is notable for:
(a) Its simple philosophy of religious asceticism.
(b) Its retelling of ancient myths and fables.
(c) Its portrayal of the gluttony of the Pope.
(d) Its disregard for the festive tradition.

Short Answer Questions

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

2. Bakhtin asserts that Rabelais' grotesque conception of the body reflected:

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

4. How does Bakhtin say Ivan the Terrible of Russia was similar to Rabelais?

5. How does Bakhtin interpret Rabelais' term "agelast"?

Short Essay Questions

1. What was "prandial libertinism"?

2. Why does Bakhtin assert that we cannot make the mistake of interpreting Rabelais' images of the material body lower stratum with our modern sensibilities?

3. What is the significance of "cuckoldry," and how is it portrayed?

4. What is the role of games in Rabelais' work?

5. How does Rabelais construct the episode of Epistemon's resurrection and of his visions in the underworld?

6. Why are eating and drinking two of the most important manifestations of the grotesque body?

7. What is the significance of the figure of the androgyne in Rabelais' novel?

8. What is significant about the language in which Rabelais writes and the sources of many of his words?

9. Which elements of Villon and Tappecoue's (Ticklepecker's) episode make it a "tragic farce"?

10. How is "folly" ambivalent?

(see the answer keys)

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